Love, Forgiveness, and Holiness: A Working Theory

I am often field-testing what I call “Working Theories” about life and God. If I come across an idea or concept that I think might be really profound or helpful—in my own life and as I minister to others—I make note of it. Then I begin putting it through a kind of “scientific method” process to see if it really rings true or not.

“Does Scripture support this idea?”
“Does it really ‘work’ in real life?”
“If this idea metastasized in my Spirit, so to speak, would it make me more like Christ?”
“If I shared this idea with others, would it help turn them to Christ and love Him more?”

I usually have 2 or 3 nestled in the back of my mind. Many are easily shot down and moved off the radar screen quickly. But some sit there for a while, stewing and brewing, until they sort of take on a life of their own.

Recently my current Working Theories have started stacking up. They have become somewhat interrelated, and may actually be interdependent. Like a house of cards, if one piece falls, they all might fall. So I’d really love to get your input on them, particularly on the most recent one. I’d welcome any clarity or correction! Here they are:

Working Theory on Love 1:
The vast majority of problems in the world could be solved if each person truly understood and continually experienced how much God loves them. Specifically, people (myself included) would stop being jerks if they knew how much they were loved.

Working Theory on Love 2:
You can tell how much somebody cognitively and experientially understands how much God loves them by how they love others.

Working Theory on Forgiveness:
The key to grasping how much God loves you is: realizing how much He has forgiven you.

Working Theory on Holiness 1:
The key to grasping how much God has forgiven you is: realizing how sinful you are.

Working Theory on Holiness 2:
The key to grasping how sinful you are is: realizing how supremely holy God is.

So here is my latest, least-tested theory, that I would love your feedback on:

In the last half-century or so, the church in America has seen a seismic shift in how we view God and how we represent him to the world. In response to (the perception of, at least) a previous over-emphasis on God’s wrath (which comes about because of the grave discrepancy between God’s holiness and humanity’s sinfulness), American Christians today often want to downplay the whole holiness/sin thing in favor of highlighting God’ love.

But what if doing so is actually harmful to people? I mean, beyond the obvious issue of potential doctrinal heresy in this approach. What if, even on an experiential level, by not magnifying the holiness, the utter separateness, the graphic heaviness of God in our message we were actually keeping people from feeling, from experiencing, God’s love in a transformative way?

Let me know what you think...