Unconditional. What's the Catch?

It's interesting how sometimes a particular word seems to jump out from unexpected places and stick in your head.

At the moment that word is 'Unconditional'

What's amazing is that it's people from my home town, Palmerston North, New Zealand, who have used the word in the things they've been doing.

Tim Hamilton has created a short video about Palmerston North and its surrounding region called Unconditional. There's some stunning night-time footage in the video.

Rebecca Culver, who started Palmerston Norths free store, Just Zilch, was recently interviewed on Radio New Zealands National Programme with Jim Mora. You can listen to the interview here.
One of the key philosophies behind Just Zilch is to demonstrate unconditional love.

It's interesting how unconditional love doesn't always sit well with government departments.
Just Zilch is having trouble getting recognition as acharitable organisation because they have no boundaries/conditions on who they provide food to. You can read the article about that here.

Rebecca's situation shows just how foreign 'unconditional love' is in todays society. Because unconditional love has no boundaries/conditions it looks very suspicious in todays 'Whats-the-catch?' world.

Even the church doesn't escape suspicion. Historically, this has come about through many churches (not all) taking on a mission to indoctrinate people rather than loving them.
Now, when we demonstrate genuine love through church channels there's often a suspicious 'What's the catch?' response (sometimes verbal, sometimes not).

When Jesus fed the multitudes there was no 'What's the catch?'.

When Jesus healed the sick there was no 'What's the catch?'.

When Jesus turned the water into wine there was no 'What's the catch?'.

Why? Because Jesus radiated genuine 100% unconditional love for everyone. There was no hidden agenda.

Unconditional love is so big that it destroys suspicion, doubt, hidden agendas and 'What's the Catch?'.

PS. I should also state the obvious. Demonstrating unconditional love isn't easy. We all fail. But Gods grace, forgiveness and unconditional love are the ultimate safety net to help us bounce back and try again.