CrossTalk: To Be Like Your Father

“Be merciful just as your Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36). Christian behaviour flows out of Christian belief. That doesn’t just mean that if you believe in God, you will obey Him. Anybody can act according to a set of rules. But Christian behavior is no act. It is a way of being.

“Be merciful!” Jesus says. Don't just act that way. These words invite you into a whole different life. More than actions and words, this life includes thoughts, attitudes and feelings. Jesus calls you to be as God the Father is—to be merciful.

When you think of God the Father, do you think of mercy? Sadly, this is the last word many would use to describe God. They feel that God is their enemy who does not love but hates them. Many think that God is a vengeful judge and not a merciful Father. Of course, people rarely say this in polite company. Rather, such thoughts show up in how we think and act.

What we think about the life God has given us says alot about what we think of God. When I complain about the health or money, family or work that God has given me, I am really saying that God is not giving enough but is stingy, that He is not merciful but vengeful. If I try to avoid thinking ill about God by saying that He is not the source of these things, I don't think more of God but less. For then, I am only saying that He is not really God at all.

So also, the way we think about His word speaks volumes. When we are reluctant to hear and follow God's word in our lives, we are really saying that He wants to kill our joy or prevent us from having what we need to live. This is anything but seeing God as merciful.

When we do not consider God to be merciful, our behavior becomes unmerciful too—especially when we are afraid or hurt. When I am afraid for the future, I become a taker instead of a giver. I act like everybody owes me something and no longer see people through God’s eyes—as people that I can care for.

When we are wronged, instead of giving mercy, we demand justice. We use whatever leverage or strength that we have to punish, or to abandon the one who hurts us. But this is exactly the opposite of how God is towards you. Even though He is almighty, He does not use His might against you, but for you. Even though He is transcendent, He does not stay aloof from you but comes to you.

God is so merciful, in fact, that He doesn't just tell you to change your thinking and leave you alone to figure out how. Instead, God is so merciful that "He gave His only-begotten Son" (John 3:16). The Father gave the Son to become a true, believing Man and to rescue you from unbelief and the unmerciful life that follows.

This Jesus is not just one face of God--one way of explaining God or knowing Him. If that were the case, you might see Jesus in all His mercy, but still not know that God Himself is merciful. To know Jesus is to know the Father. To know Jesus’ mercy is to know that the Father’s mercy is not just an act, but the real thing.

Thus knowing Jesus, you know the Father and knowing the Father, you are made merciful as He Himself is merciful. This new life is what God mercifully gives to all who come to Him. So come to Church. Receive all that He gives there and become as Jesus invites you to be.