Worthy of Love

Upon arrival into this world, no one asks the newborn, “And what, pray tell, have you done that should make me love you?” Certainly the most normal reaction – the most human reaction – is to see the baby and to love the child. When this fails, especially in the case of the parents, we consider that there is something dangerously amiss.

I bring this up in response to a video that has made the rounds recently of James Van Der Beek that was recorded last March, when he still had hopes of beating the cancer that just weeks ago took his life. In case you haven’t seen it, I’ll embed it here:

An incredible message from a man who has now met his Maker.

May you rest in peace, Vander James.

pic.twitter.com/IBEeoEqDCb

— Patrick Bet-David (@patrickbetdavid) February 11, 2026

Now, I think the Babylon Bee is hilarious, and I find their sister site, Not the Bee to be both funny and informative. However, I believe that they missed the mark on their analysis of Van Der Beek’s message, and I believe they did so because of a specific Protestant lens through which they comprehended this message. (Their take can be read here: https://notthebee.com/takes/james-van-der-beeks-final-message-reveals-the-persistent-knocking-of-a-relentless-god )

Although they found a lot of good in the message, the thing that they found fault with was Van Der Beek’s assertation that he is “worthy” of God’s Love simply because he exists. Considering the very “non-denominational” perspective they take, it’s no wonder that they came away from Van Der Beek’s message with this “read” – a traditional Protestant perspective almost demands it.

In my post from Friday, Thoughts of a Wretch, I wrote about what I perceive as differences in the idea of wretchedness from a more Protestant viewpoint as opposed to a more Orthodox one. This here is a related situation – in a Protestant sense, “worthy” necessarily means that we have done something on our own that results in a reward of worthiness. It’s unclear what Van Der Beek’s specific religious persuasion was, but when he speaks of being “worthy of love” here, I think he’s as clear as possible that he’s not speaking about doing anything to earn that love. Like the way it should be with a newborn, that child is simply loved for being a tiny child. Without the child having done anything, an adult loves that child simply for existing. The child is worthy of the love of its family and community simply because it is a baby. Its very nature at this stage in life is to receive this love, because when this happens, it sets the stage for the best life possible.

Van Der Beek speaks here about how God’s Love for us happens because Love is the nature of God and the reason for our creation. We are created in love to receive His Love. We are “worthy” because this is what we were created for. He even flips it around a bit to try to reach people who aren’t as comfortable thinking about God per se, making it even more plain that existence itself is reason enough to be worthy of love.

Playing with that argument a little bit further, it logically follows that it makes no sense if humans just randomly exist or have no cosmic purpose. Another logical inference is that humans are not brought upon this earth for the purpose of condemnation or to be hated. Yes, there is sin in the world, and yes, we have taken part in that sin. This sin separates us from God and makes the sacrifice of Jesus necessary. If you “read” Van Der Beek’s message with the idea of “worthiness” being tied to something we are rewarded with after achieving something, such as a military rank, there is no way that we can do enough to be worthy of God’s Love. However like the newborn, we don’t have to do anything to be “worthy” of God’s Love when this “worthiness” is tied to the very reason for our existence.

Again, I’m no theologian, and like Van Der Beek here, I can’t say that I know anything that makes me an expert to talk about God or the nature of God or Who He is, but as someone who has lived so long with the idea that I probably shouldn’t be loved because there’s no way I’m worthy of it, I think it’s important to make the logical argument that even though we’re not yet the people that we were created to be, and that God is fierce and mighty and will cause every knee to bow and every tongue confess, He is also the One who calls to us with the still, small voice to turn to Him and to look up.

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