Love Is Not An Option

"Thank goodness it's Friday" is a phrase that is known to most of America. Although there are many who work the weekends; there are a host of professions and trades that end the week at 5:00pm on Friday. So, when we look back on our week, how do we evaluate it, or what criteria do we use to determine if it was successful or not? I can promise you that very few of us determine the success of our week based on the criteria of love. We do not go to our favorite restaurant on Friday night evaluating whether or not we loved as God would ask of us during the past week.

Last week we looked at the words of Jesus as he was asked about which commandment was the greatest. His answer was to love God with our whole being because he loves us with his whole being. According to Jesus that is the "Greatest Commandment" of all. The teacher of law did not ask for the second commandment, yet Jesus gave it to him because he knew it was tied to the first. The second one is more visible in that Jesus says, "The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31)

So, with these two weighty commandments sitting before me, I have to ask myself on Friday, "Did I love God and did I love my neighbor?" These were not commands that were "suggested" by the Lord, or an option that he has given to us. Loving God and loving people are the criteria for which we will be held accountable for. It is an awesome truth that makes me realize that without the Holy Spirit active in my life I will never make it.

There are other passages in Scripture where Jesus shows us that it is not a question of "Who is my neighbor?" rather, "Am I being a good neighbor to those around me?" Jesus identified for us many times that a neighbor is "anyone who has been providentially placed in our path for sympathy and help." (William Hendriksen). The famous quote from the late missionary Amy Carmichael should be remembered here: "You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving."

Why is this love of people so important to the Lord? Human love is patterned after God, it is a glorious aspect of being "Created in the image if God." When we love as he has commanded we become selfless; we then respond to needs in self-giving. This is exactly how Jesus lived because the love of the Father was in him also. I guess I am still stumped on how we can love our neighbor when we don’t even do a very admirable job of loving our brothers and sisters in our communities of faith.

While at the library this week I picked up a reputable Christian magazine that was on the periodical rack. I sat down with it and a couple of more earthy kinds of magazines dealing cars, cycles and currents issues. As I read the Christian magazine I was struck with the thought, "How would an unchurched person view Christianity if they read this magazine from cover to cover?"

As I read the mudslinging, the put downs, the competitive discourses, and all denominational promoting, I realized that they would be totally confused, and probably turned off to Christianity. Jesus said, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." A few lines later in John 15:17 he says it again, "This is my command" Love each other." Reading numerous articles in that "Christian" magazine I did not see much Christian about it. How is our society to know the love of God when we tear each other to shreds? As the early church grew after the days of Jesus and the Apostles, a Roman poet wrote of the Christians, "They know one another by secret marks and signs, and they love one another almost before they know one another." I don't think that can be said today especially when "doctrines" enter into discussion.

There are many passages in the Bible that I have questions about or that cause me concern, but the ones where Jesus speaks of love and unity as a sign of those that will be his true followers, well, I just don’t see it. I don't see it in me as I should and I don't see it in my church, and I don't see it in our country, and I don't see it in the world. Yet, Jesus said this is his commandment for us - to love.

Teresa of Avila wrote so well, "Our Lord does not care so much for the importance of our works as for the love with which they are done." And that love will not be expressed through our lives without the ministry of the Holy Spirit being active in our souls. As the Scriptures say, "The fruit of the Spirit is love . . ." I must be filled to over flowing with the Spirit of God in order for me to love those I disagree with, or those that I find unlovely and especially those I would call my enemies.

I think maturity in Christ can be summed up by asking if we are becoming more loving people? We hear sermon after sermon on "becoming more like him" and that would have to mean that we are becoming a more loving person year after year. The reality is that everyone around us knows whether or not we are growing in love and truly becoming "more like him."

Friday is coming. Your week will be over. Will you be able to say, "Yes, I have loved God and my neighbor this past week?" Will you be able to say, "God put someone in my path and I loved them as Jesus would and I helped them." Whatever else you might have accomplished, is secondary to the "Greatest Commandment."

Still Moving Forward,

Dan

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