Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

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An encouragement to love

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Love God Love PeopleJesus told us that the church is to be characterized and identified by our love (see John 13:35). In most social organizations, respect and love for fellow members can be found. One can experience love and acceptance in a variety of social situations. Love for one another is not unique to the church.

The church is to up the ante by going beyond love for the members and loving those who are enemies (Matthew 5:43-44). We are to be identified by our love for those both inside and outside the membership ranks. How we interact with those who oppose us is the real test. How we deal with opposition is the opportunity for the true character of the Christian to be displayed.

Notice that Jesus does not give us a doctrinal or theological marker. Doctrinal purity is not the way that the church is to be identified. We are not to be known for our exuberant worship. We are not to be known by our stunning graphical displays or beautiful buildings. We are to be known by our love.

While we should not change the message of the Gospel, we need wisdom on how we present it to those who desperately need to hear it. I have been in churches where I (as a Christian for a long time) was extremely uncomfortable with the dogmatic rants that misrepresented the love of God for humanity. In these situations the rant took the form of “here is the correct understanding of this verse/issue, and everyone who disagrees has this wrong.” I doubt that any n0n-believer in the audience would have come away feeling welcome or loved.

This is not to say that correct doctrine is not important. There are interpretations of the Bible that are clearly outside of orthodoxy and these should be opposed. But they should be opposed in a way that is loving. They should be opposed in a way of which Jesus would approve.

But too often opposition to incorrect theology is done in a way that is not characterized by love.

How infinitely wise of our master to encourage us to present our case in love (Ephesians 4;15). To brow beat someone into theological submission does nothing to change his heart. But to lovingly present the truth of Scripture gives God the freedom to work in that person’s life in a way that avoids violence to his psyche.

I read recently of a poll done after a debate between a prominent atheist and a prominent Christian apologist. The poll revealed that at the end of the debate almost no-one in the audience had their opinion changed. Both parties in the debate articulated their positions well but few converts to either position were made.

If correction needs to be made, it must be done in love and acceptance. No-one likes the boss that berates his subordinates. Whey then would we think that caricaturing a position or ridiculing a non-believer would produce anything other than resentment?

Think about how simple Jesus made things toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount. The test for entry into Heaven is not a theological one. The true test is whether we are in relationship with Jesus or not. He also tells us that the evidence for that relationship is obedience to the will of the Father (Matthew 5:21). Elsewhere, Jesus told us that the two great commands are to love God and love neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).

If visitors are not walking away from your church overwhelmed by love for members and visitors alike, something is wrong.

The only antidote is to repent and come into right relationship with Jesus.

Why don’t we do better at this?

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“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matt 5:43-44)

I love my churchHow different would the world be if the church did this well? We know that in ourselves we are not morally superior to the world around us. But because ofour relationship with Jesus, there is a sense in which we should be. If God really takes up residence in the believer and if God really is working in us, it seems as though we should see progress in becoming more loving. That difference should be observable to the watching world.

Unfortunately, a quick scan of the internet will produce plenty of examples of Christians that are hating their neighbors rather than loving them. James tells us that this type of behavior comes from selfishness and self-focus (see James 4:1). We are poor representatives of Christ when we act out of self interest.

Instead, not are we only to be tolerant of our critics, we must love them. We are not loving the critics when we are speaking hatefully or condescendingly about them. Somehow, Jesus was able to let people know when their behavior was wrong or was in need of change while loving them. The sinners hung around Jesus and did not feel condemned. We should be able to have this same ability to interact with the culture around us. Yet often we do not.

From a Christian perspective, this is doubly tragic. Paul tells us that apart from the work of Christ in our lives, we are born in our sins. We are born in darkness and must be shown how to approach the light and must be given the power to approach the light. There is nothing in us that is superior in any way that should cause us to look down on another. The double tragedy is that our inability or unwillingness to love damages those around us and it damages us.

Jesus tells us that the two great commands are to love God and love our neighbor. We cannot be doing the first well if we are not doing the second. Neither can we do the second well unless we are doing the first. They are tied together.

The challenge to each of us who identify ourselves as beleivers in Jesus Christ is to check and see how well we are loving the people around us. I know that I have much room to grow in this area. I can be petulant, self absorbed and insensitive to the needs of the people around me. On any given day I can find many examples of my lack of love. Yet, I can also see that I have made progress as I have grown in my relationship with Jesus.

I am reminded that John tells us that “we love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We need to approprite and appreciate God’s love for us before we can do an adequate job of loving others. There is a gap between how we are loved and how we perceive how we are loved. Spiritual growth closes that gap and puts us in a position to better love others.

It seems to me that this answers the question of why we don’t do better at loving others. I fail to love others when I fail to appreciate how much I am loved by God.

It’s not about do’s and don’ts

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“Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22, NASB)

do's and don'tsThe negative command is to flee youthful lusts, but Paul goes on to give a positive one. Youthful lusts are to be replaced by the pursuit of righteousness, faith, love and peace.  The negative command cannot be successfully accomplished unless the positive one is employed.

Too often we think of the Christian life in terms of the things we will not do. When this mindset is operational it is easy to become upset at the world all around us who is doing those very things. It is too easy to decry the degradation in the surrounding culture and long for the good old days where such behavior was not tolerated.

Instead of focusing on the negative, Paul gives us something to pursue. Rather than suppressing passions, Paul gives a worthy object for our passions.

Righteousness

When I see the word righteousness, I think of right standing before God. The beginning of this process is when we acknowledge our unrighteousness and accept God’s provision of Jesus as the means of our inheriting righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). At the moment we accept God’s provision, we are declared righteous.

There is also an ongoing component to righteousness. Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 that we have to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Elsewhere, Paul uses the analogy of clothing when he tells us to “put off” the old self (Eph. 4:22, Col. 2:11, Col 3:9). The follow-up is to put on the new man and live in obedience to God.

It took a long time for me to understand that this is more than adherence to a list of do’s and don’ts. To really pursue righteousness is to cultivate a deeper relationship with God through the reading of Scripture, prayer and fellowship with other believers. As I deepen in my relationship with God, it becomes less and less about external behavior and more and more about what motivates me and where my desires will lead. Righteousness is all about letting God be in control.

Faith

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that we enter into a relationship with God through faith. Yet that faith can and should grow. On multiple occasions, Jesus challenged his followers because of their “little faith.” The implication is that Jesus’ follower should move beyond the little faith stage to a robust, mature faith.

I am challenged by those who seem to be gifted with great faith. Seeing those, I realize that I have so much room to grow in my own faith.

Love

Jesus told us that the two great commands are to love God and to love our neighbor. I cannot claim to be proficient at either of these and have much room for growth. I suspect that none of us can claim to have fulfilled either command to perfection. To pursue love, selfless love, is a worthy occupation.

Peace

In human terms we think of peace as the absence of conflict. Yet this is not true peace.  As Jesus points out in the Sermon on the Mount, hate is the root of murder and to hate is to commit murder without actually killing my adversary.

True peace is not only what happens on the outside. True peace must take place in our thoughts and emotions. Paul gives us indication of how true peace starts in Romans 5:1, it starts with “having been justified by faith.” This faith brings peace with God which can then begin to produce peace with ourselves and with others.

Conclusion

The Christian life should be so much more than following a list of do’s and don’ts. It should be so much more than a set of passionless rituals. A real walk with God should engage our mind and emotions in a pursuit of the things of God.

Heavenly minded or no good at all

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Heavenly MindedI have heard it said that a person could be so Heavenly minded that he is of no Earthly good. Perhaps it is only me, but I find that I am in greater danger of becoming so Earthly minded that I am no good at all.

I do not how it could be possible to be too Heavenly minded. Paul tells us to “Set [our] mind[s] on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2). The verb is a present tense command. It carries the idea of continually thinking or considering the things above. It is an ongoing day by day, minute by minute activity.

I suppose the point of the platitude is that some might be so wrapped up in Bible study and “spiritual” activity that they miss opportunities to be of practical help to those around them.

But if we look to Jesus to show us what being Heavenly minded should look like, we see a very different picture. While it is true that Jesus spent hours in prayer with his Father, it must also be noted that he spent more hours in meeting the intellectual, spiritual and physical needs of those who came to him.

Another approach to this question is to examine what Jesus taught. Jesus boiled all of the law into two commands to love. First is love for God; second is love for the people around us. The degree to which I am fulfilling the second command is an indication as to how well I am doing the first. Love of God will result in love for man. Why is this the case? Because God loved us enough to send Jesus, the same Jesus who met the needs of the people around him.

To flip this around, to love our neighbor by meeting his physical needs without addressing his great spiritual one is a shallow and unsatisfactory love. If the greatest need of humanity is to be in relationship with God (as the Bible teaches us), it would be impossible to fully love my neighbor without loving God first.

It is only by being truly Heavenly minded that I can begin to be of real use to those around me. As Jesus reminds us, “what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

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