Image via<\/a>]\n\u00a0
\nWe live in a bottom line society.<\/p>\n
If something isn\u2019t efficient enough, if it doesn\u2019t get the job done, or, most importantly, if it doesn\u2019t make money, we get rid of it or ignore altogether in the first place.<\/p>\n
Whether in business, church, or just day to day life, many of the decisions we make are based on what\u2019s best for the bottom line, what makes the most sense in light of our resources, or what will be the most beneficial to us in the end.<\/p>\n
Which means the people and things we cherish the most are those that are the most efficient, the most productive, and the most profitable.<\/p>\n
In turn, this means there is no greater secular sin than being good for nothing.<\/p>\n
If something is good for nothing, we toss it aside, trash it, vilify it, and go out of our way to make sure no one else bothers wasting their time, money, or energy on something or someone that is good for nothing.<\/p>\n
Which is what makes God so particularly confusing and frustrating, if not altogether off putting.<\/p>\n
God doesn\u2019t always make sense. God doesn\u2019t always do what is most efficient. God certainly doesn\u2019t do what would be most beneficial to God.<\/p>\n
Perhaps \u201cworst\u201d of all, God is good for no reason. That is say, God is good regardless of profitability.<\/p>\n
God loves in the face of rejection. God gives grace even though it\u2019s exploited. God forgives even as God is being trampled on. God gives when it isn\u2019t deserved.<\/p>\n
God is good for nothing.<\/p>\n
For no reason.<\/p>\n
For no profit.<\/p>\n
God is good simply because God chooses to be good, not because of what God may get out of it. After all, God is not in need of anything.<\/p>\n
This is, once again, what makes God so particularly confusing and frustrating, if not altogether off putting for those of us who live in a society consumed by the bottom line, where everything must have a purpose, a reason, a potential for profit.<\/p>\n
But God\u2019s love has no motive.<\/p>\n
God simply loves.<\/p>\n
Sure, God wants us to return that love, but God doesn\u2019t force it and God certainly doesn\u2019t stop loving when that love doesn\u2019t see a return on its investment.<\/p>\n
This is why Jesus tells the rich young ruler to sell everything and give the money to the poor. It\u2019s not because there is anything intrinsically wrong with money or wealth. It\u2019s because the man had a motive in wanting to follow Jesus. He wasn\u2019t in love in Jesus. He wanted what Jesus could do for him.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not the sort of life Jesus calls his follower to. Jesus calls his people to simply love like God loves.<\/p>\n
To be good for nothing.<\/p>\n
This is why we hear so many people talk about the Christian life, but few actually live it. Being good for nothing is a scary thing. It requires us to abandon our need for profit, efficiency, and the sense of security that come with them.<\/p>\n
It means taking care of the poor even though they didn\u2019t do anything to earn it. It means forgiving even when forgiveness isn\u2019t asked for. It means extending grace to those who actively seek our demise.<\/p>\n
It means pouring out one\u2019s life without exception of gain, but simply out of love for God and neighbor.<\/p>\n
This is the sort of life we see embodied by Jesus in the Gospels.<\/p>\n
And this is the sort of God we encounter in Scripture.<\/p>\n
But this sort of God doesn\u2019t fit very well into our modern bottom line society. In fact, this sort of God stands in stark opposition to it.<\/p>\n
Because this sort of God is good for nothing.<\/p>\n
But that is the very thing that makes God worthy of our worship.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grace and peace,<\/p>\n
Zack Hunt<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[Image via] \u00a0 We live in a bottom line society. If something isn\u2019t efficient enough, if it doesn\u2019t get the job done, or, most importantly, if it doesn\u2019t make money, we get rid of it or ignore altogether in the first place. Whether in business, church, or just day to day life, many of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3437,"featured_media":9038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
A Good For Nothing God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" We live in a bottom line society. If something isn't efficient enough, if it doesn't get the job done, or, most importantly, if it doesn't make\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Good For Nothing God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" We live in a bottom line society. If something isn't efficient enough, if it doesn't get the job done, or, most importantly, if it doesn't make\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-20T16:53:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/941\/2013\/02\/God-Is-Love.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"698\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zack Hunt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zack Hunt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/\",\"name\":\"A Good For Nothing God\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-20T16:53:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-20T16:53:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226\"},\"description\":\" We live in a bottom line society. If something isn't efficient enough, if it doesn't get the job done, or, most importantly, if it doesn't make\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Good For Nothing God\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/\",\"name\":\"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt\",\"description\":\"Zack writes about the intersection of faith and politics\u2026and sometimes BBQ.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226\",\"name\":\"Zack Hunt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zack Hunt\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/author\/zhunt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Good For Nothing God","description":" We live in a bottom line society. If something isn't efficient enough, if it doesn't get the job done, or, most importantly, if it doesn't make","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Good For Nothing God","og_description":" We live in a bottom line society. If something isn't efficient enough, if it doesn't get the job done, or, most importantly, if it doesn't make","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/","og_site_name":"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt","article_published_time":"2013-02-20T16:53:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":698,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/941\/2013\/02\/God-Is-Love.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Zack Hunt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zack Hunt","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/","name":"A Good For Nothing God","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-02-20T16:53:35+00:00","dateModified":"2013-02-20T16:53:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226"},"description":" We live in a bottom line society. If something isn't efficient enough, if it doesn't get the job done, or, most importantly, if it doesn't make","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/2013\/02\/a-good-for-nothing-god\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Good For Nothing God"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/","name":"The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt","description":"Zack writes about the intersection of faith and politics\u2026and sometimes BBQ.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/92d888feb798c511bc3c9cb2fc4a4226","name":"Zack Hunt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7a3db085a35a483a38418a4937abcd6?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Zack Hunt"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/author\/zhunt\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/zackhunt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"God-Is-Love\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/941\/2013\/02\/God-Is-Love.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n[Image via<\/a>]\n