“The Intolerable Compliment” is probably one of the most unusual terms for something as profound as the Love of God. Certainly for C.S. Lewis to talk about it in this way is something to be pondered. Unusual as it is, I am finding that the more I meditate on God, my own humanity, and the revelation of Scripture with regards to the true nature of the Love of God, the more accurate and thought provoking I find this phrase.
Certainly the fact that God loves His created beings is a compliment of the highest order. Scripture is clear (particularly where human beings are concerned) that there is nothing at all lovable about fallen creation. We as human beings since the fall have only become more depraved, selfish, focused purely on our own most base instincts and desires. Deceived in the beginning, we still let it happen today, and in fact perpetuate lies and mistruth about our Creator. It is in spite of all the changing that we have done for the worse that the love of God has not changed in the least. Most profoundly He has demonstrated this in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. More than not deserving love, we have in fact made every effort to reject it, but our opinion on the matter does nothing to sway Sovereign God.
It is at that point that I begin to see what is so intolerable about this grand compliment. What makes it so intolerable is that on so many levels we really do not want God to love us (not in the perfect way that He alone is capable of anyway), in spite of the fact that ultimately we need this love. It is intolerable because the Love of God is perfect. It is an oft repeated phrase that “God loves us as we are, but too much to leave us this way”, and this is a good way to begin to think of just how incredible is this love of God. God Himself is omniscient, omnipotent, Holy--He knows everything, has power over everything and seeks what is best for His creation. The reality is that what is truly best for us is Him--a reconciled relationship in which we (who were created for His glory) can fulfill that purpose. So it is in our immature, selfish understanding of love we think that if God loves us He should give us what we want, when we want it, not ask questions--what that describes is not God, but rather some sort of cosmic doting wish-granter. It reveals the depth of our own ignorance that such a reality entices us at all, because right away it is obvious that me getting what I want may be exactly the opposite of what you want, and so now someone will be unhappy, and is back in the dilemma of thinking they are not really loved in the beginning.
The truth is quite the opposite. God loves us, and it really has nothing to do with us at all. We cannot impress to earn it, and even when we shake our fist and insist we do not want it this love does not go away. It protects us when we need protection, comforts us when we need encouragement, wounds us when we need to be hurt, all to the Glory of God. Before we encounter Christ, this love is the great romance of God seeking to woo His children. Once we are reconciled by the blood of Jesus, this love is preparing us, making us the perfect bride for the grand marriage banquet of eternity.
To be loved this way can be intolerable at times. I think of the story of Lazarus in John 11. Jesus knew Lazarus was sick, knew that he would die, still he tarried before going to see Mary and Martha. I hear the pain (but also the faith) in the words of both Mary and Martha as independently they said to Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died…” They knew he was the Son of God, even if at that point they did not fully understand what was encompassed by that statement. They were his friends, they loved Him--how could he have let Lazarus die? Indeed it would have been loving to heal Lazarus, but was it not a greater demonstration of love that He both affirmed their faith, and gave them even more in which to hope by bringing Lazarus back from the dead? Now they understand (intolerable as it was) that the one who loves them is willing to undo death itself to prove this love. In answer to the statement “If you had been here…” Jesus says “It is because I was there that your brother died”.
I struggle to handle such a love, because in truth there are times that I just want to be left alone. Is it not enough for God that He has saved me, justified me for eternity? It is not, and praise be to God. His love insists on sanctifying me, that ultimately when I am glorified it will be so much the better, for me, but really for Him. Because it will bring Him much glory, it will more greatly satisfy me, since that is the purpose for which I was created. So it is that regardless of what I am enduring, how I wish I could hide, how I have wept over pain in my life, it is because of the fact that God loves me that I am going through it, that I am able to go through it. He will accomplish what is best for me, even when I am too weak, too unlovable to handle it. That is a truly intolerable compliment.
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