N.T. Wright suggests that Israel misread God’s intent in the Abrahamic Covenant. Rather than follow their vocation to be light to the world, they believed the covenant granted them exclusive privilege. This Wright labels as their “meta sin, their own second-order form of idolatry (Paul, page 36).”
God established the covenant as the first step for reconciling the world to himself. Instead, Israel often believed the covenant established them as the only group which God would redeem. They became complacent instead of missional.
If Wright is right, he has also touched on a cardinal sin of the modern American church. There is a pervasive attitude that when you become a Christian, you have arrived. Joining God’s family is the culmination of God’s desire. We fail to recognize that when we become Christian, we are also joining a mission team, a spiritual army, God’s own public relations team.
God’s ultimate desire is not that we enjoy his love, but that we share his love.