Reckless Love

Several years ago, the Christian singer Cory Asbury released a song that became very popular entitled “Reckless Love.” As the song gained popularity, even being played in many churches across America on Sunday mornings, it faced some criticism for describing God’s love as reckless. The lyrics in question go, “Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines reckless as, “marked by lack of proper caution: careless of consequences.” What critics were concerned about was not the actual definition of reckless, but with the connotations associated with recklessness such as foolishness, brashness, breakneck, or ill-advised behavior.

Where this criticism falls short is that these connotations are characteristics of humans, not God. Jesus described the nature of God’s love in the Parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15:3-7. He tells of a shepherd who had one of his 100 sheep go missing. The shepherd left his other 99 sheep, completely abandoned in the open country, to go find his one lost sheep. When he found it, he joyfully put it on his shoulders and carried it home to rejoice with his friends and neighbors. By leaving his other 99 sheep alone in the wilderness, open to attack by predators, theft by another shepherd, or even for the sheep to just wander off, the shepherd acted without proper caution: careless of consequences. He wanted to save his lost sheep no matter what, even if that meant being reckless with his other 99 sheep.

God, like the shepherd who recklessly pursued his one missing sheep, wants to save every single person who is lost, no matter what. I experienced this powerful characteristic of God’s love when I was still struggling with addiction to pornography. I prayed for God to miraculously heal me of my addiction, but that was not His will for my life. What I found out instead is that one of the most dangerous things you can do as an addict is pursue God because He will not allow you to stay stuck in your hiding, lying, and isolation. He will allow you to continue to spiral downward into a completely unmanageable mess, until you finally give up, throw up your hands in total capitulation, and submit to His will. As my life as an addict descended into freefall, God followed me straight down to the cold, hard, and lonely bottom. When I finally decided to stop trying to do things my way and surrendered to God, I began to experience healing.

Cory Asbury was not the first Christian singer to describe God’s love as reckless. In his song “The Love of God” Rich Mullins described it as “a reckless, raging fury.” That is exactly what I experienced as I wrestled to submit my addiction to God. He recklessly and furiously pursued me, even into the darkest corners of my addiction, because He loves me and wants me to walk in the light of His grace and mercy. God sought me without caution and without any regard for the consequences because He knew that my battle with addiction was a battle of life or death and His will for me is life.

I think describing God’s love as “reckless” does not sit well with some Christians because they struggle to imagine God sitting with a person who is actively engaging in their addiction. They are more comfortable thinking that God steps out of the room, or He turns around, or He looks the other way in those moments, but the truth is, He is right there. God is right beside us, intently, lovingly watching us, with His arms stretched out, ready to pick us up, put us on His shoulders, and take us home as soon as we decide we are ready to give up and give into the reckless, raging fury that is the love of God.

Deciding to give up and capitulate to God’s love is a very brave first step; however, capitulation, by definition, does not mean simply surrendering. Capitulation means unconditional surrender and agreeing to the terms of surrender. Simply put, it means you must also give up trying to do things on your terms and instead accept new terms. For me, this meant learning to tell the truth, bringing my struggle with pornography out into the light, and committing to rigorous honesty in all areas of my life. Doing this in isolation is almost impossible. You need other people around you to help guide you in the new way of doing things. In my recovery, my counselor and my men’s recovery group were those people for me. If you are reading this and you are ready to fall into God’s open, loving arms and give up fighting your battle with addiction alone, I encourage you to reach out. I would love to connect with you and hear more about your story. The reckless love of God will continue to pursue you. You do not have to keep running, choose to accept it today.