This passage contains one of the most well-known scriptures, but maybe also the least examined. It seems we sometimes want to put a parenthesis in the middle of it. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who (believes like me, looks like me, thinks like me, speaks like me) may not perish but may have eternal life.” We often think we have the corner market on right belief and leave little room for God to work in and through those who see things differently.
John puts the emphasis on belief in God, plain and simple, but we want to attach strings. We have a tendency to think that only those who believe in exactly the same way we do are true believers and therefore worthy of the gift of eternal life (which, by the way, includes this very moment and is not only about what happens after you die). This reveals a certain level of pride and arrogance that dwells in every human, no matter how hard we try to root it out.
Today, examine your attitude about people who believe or think about God differently than you. Do you view them as somehow less-than? Do you think God does? Do you feel threatened by different expressions of belief? What if, instead, you were grateful for diversity of thought and belief because it just might lead to growth or a deepening of your own faith?
Offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of eternal life that begins here and now.