Friends, God is either Good or he is retributive. He can’t be both. Evangelical theology is very heavily based on a view of God that is retributive. Meaning He still punishes us for sin. Oh they SAY that Jesus did it all on the cross. But their theology says it’s ONLY for the select few called the elect. The rest are on their own and will face punishment for their sins unless they repent and accept Jesus, which really means to come into agreement with evangelical doctrine about how salvation is obtained. Now different streams of evangelicalism define “the elect” in different ways, but most agree that it is those who have committed their lives to Jesus. The “in crowd”. The rest are excluded from the forgiveness of the cross unless they too repent and accept Christ. Should they die in this state they would forever be punished for their sins in eternal conscious torment in hell with no hope of redemption. All of this is based on a retributive view of God. And in their view this retributive attribute OVERRIDES His love and grace. It is the dominant characteristic. Like it or not that is the truth about evangelicalism. It pervades every other doctrine they have. It is why they can be very comfortable with using empire to achieve some kind of moral paradise where everyone behaves. It is why they are universally focused on sin and dealing with it. It is why they universally mix grace with a good measure of law to keep their people in line with fear. It is why their leaders are controlling and sometimes abusive. It’s all to prevent this retributive God from unleashing a storm of wrath on the earth like we have never seen before. If you dig deep enough at some level this is their motivation for everything.

You cannot mix a “God is Good” core value with a theology that has a God that is also wrathful and whose mercy will someday run out and who will unleash an orgy of destruction on us because of our great sin and who will enjoy doing it. Can’t be. Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father. If Jesus wouldn’t do it, neither would the Father. God is redemptive, not retributive. The retributive god is a god made in our image. It is a false god. Love is the essence of God, It is the predominate motivation. This is the reason the book and movie “The Shack” invoked a barrage of protest from evangelicals. It takes away their wrathful god. It reveals the God who loves them unconditionally. Without their wrathful god, evangelical theology completely falls apart. They need to protect their franchise. This is also why those of us who have come to the knowledge of God as the ultimate love, the light of creation, the redeemer of ALL mankind, are seen as a threat to evangelicals. Their secret is being exposed and they are losing control. But those of us who see God as He really is are growing in number. We will reach a tipping point. What a day that will be!