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In this episode John begins by considering which is more important: “seeking” God’s kingdom or loving God?  In doing so John considers how Gregg speaks of loving God as a very intense involvement with God that seems to be oriented around feelings and emotion.  Yet what about the command to love?  Is God really “commanding” us to love God?

Gregg responds by noting that many Christians seem to need to emphasize that love is (or starts with) something one does rather than something that one experiences or feels.  Instead, Gregg pushes back against this by indicating the importance of both one’s feelings about / toward God and one’s actions for / in light of God.  In other words, love always begins as an emotional response that is awakened (and can be dimmed).
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In this episode John and Gregg discuss Chapter 8 of Darin Hufford’s The Misunderstood God. John notes Hufford’s lack of scriptural references is both refreshing and problematic (as Hufford globalizes his own experience to his readers).  Gregg replies that, in contrast to Kyle Idleman’s Not a Fan (where Gregg and John were able to evaluate Idleman’s views based on the scriptural texts from which he drew them and how Idleman interpreted them). The validity of Hufford’s positions (on God and Christianity) are harder to evaluate because they aren’t based on biblical texts and the only sources cited to establish their validity are Hufford’s experiences.

Gregg  notes in Chapter 7 how, in contrast to the notion that God created humans to “worship God and enjoy God forever,” he finds Hufford’s notion far more compelling: God created humanity “because love requires expression” (p. 76).  In other words, we are created to be in a love relationship with God.  John resonates with Hufford’s comments about being far more deeply complimented / appreciated by those who know him best.  For Gregg this co-incides with his own personal emphasis on truth and love being at the core of one’s relationship with God where one is truly known and deeply loved.
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In this episode John and Gregg discuss Chapter 7 of The Misunderstood God: The Lies Religion Tells About God by Darin Hufford. John begins with a quotation from page 72, “Why did God create us? Because love requires expression.” John finds this notion startling and compelling while wondering about its validity.

Gregg believes two factors, in combination, are necessary to validate the truth of an assertion about God. First, one must have the best understanding of who God is and what Christianity is about. Second we must bring our own self understanding. And so the discovery of truth comes through the bi-directional and mutually informing tension between the biblical text and our understandings from human experience / knowledge.

We need to allow our understanding of God that comes the biblical text to aid in solving conflicts between the competing understandings we have of divine and human identity.
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