Issues

The Xenophilic God

God is a xenophile.

And, of course, John 3:16 is a wonderful summary of just how xenophilic he is.

Xenophilia is the love of outsiders. Pronounced zen-o-filia. It is the opposite of xenophobia, the fear or hatred of outsiders. God is a lover of the outsider, the reject, the outcast, the lost. His involvement in planet earth is fundamentally xenophilic - entirely motivated by love for those who were separate to him, and even for his enemies. God's xenophilia brought Christ into the world, reaching out to the lost and the outsider to bless, save, and embrace into his family.

The xenophilia of Jesus
Jesus of course epitomised this xenophilia in his life. By reaching out to welcome the sinners, the Gentiles, the lepers, the prostitutes, the rejects of society, he was demonstrating the xenophilic nature of the kingdom of God. By pouring out extravagant love, healing and forgiveness to those who didn't follow as much as those who did, he revealed the xenophilic heart of God. His life and death was totally orientated by love for the outsiders - by coming to seek and suffer to save the lost.

The xenophilic call of the church
This love for the outsider should mould the shape of the church too. Jesus' commands to feed the hungry, throw parties for the poor, preach the good news to all nations, and heal the sick are not just church activities to be fitted into the busy programme. They are unavoidable expressions of God's essentially xenophilic nature, which determines to do good to all people. The parable of the good Samaritan was in response to a question about who should I love as my neighbour, which Jesus said is the most important thing after loving God. His answer was...the foreigner.

This is the gospel he announced in advance to Abraham, that not only would he himself be blessed, but also that through him all nations will be blessed. God's purpose in picking Abraham, and through him his people, was that he might through him do good to all peoples. To limit this to simply the possibility of going to heaven when we die is to miss out on God's character. He is an extravagant lover of humans. Jesus' instruction to love and do good to others were without qualification.

This xenophilia - the pre-occupation with the good of others - should characterise the church. It does not of course stand against the love of God expressed in worship, or against the love of those inside the church expressed in community. But it does stand against self-centredness, pride, and greed. It stands against racism and all kinds of prejudice. It stands against spiritual arrogance, divisiveness and judging.

Living for the outsider
It means the church should be living for the outsiders just as Jesus did. It should not be spending huge amounts of time and money on itself, but on blessing those outside the church. The church should not be fighting for its own rights, but for the rights of the poor and oppressed. We should not be pre-occupied with our own comfort at home or in church but with doing good to the outsiders. It will mean accepting the sinner without presuming to judge. It will mean befriending and welcoming the foreigner. Such xenophilia should of course inform our approach to political questions such as that of refugees and asylum seekers.

It has been said that it is not so much that God has a mission for his church, but rather that God has a church for his mission. The church is not only meant to be the place where God's blessing is experienced, but also the vehicle by which God pours out his blessing to the world. This is the xenophilic calling of the church.