Kumbaya?

May 16

Read: 1 John 3:11-18

Kumbaya?

“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another”

There is a unique LOVE that should exist amongst the people of God. It is true that God has called us to “love” everyone, but in what way? Is all “love” the same? Are you really going to “love” your enemy in the same way you love your children or your spouse? Is that the goal? (I don’t think it is.) It is interesting that this passage uses Cain and Able as examples for us. (v.12, cf. Gen. 4) In this very story we see God’s treatment of these brothers - and his acceptance of their offerings - as quite different between the two of them. There is a great deal at stake when it comes to how WE as God’s people love EACH OTHER. That is what is being written about it. We should not read every passage about “loving” in the bible and just presume it is to be applied everywhere, all the time, with everyone.

Brothers and sisters in Christ should share a love for one other that is distinct from the love shared with the world. How do we know this? Well, we look at Jesus’ own words: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) This “love for one another” is to be a distinctive… it is how we are identified as Jesus’ disciples. I think we lose sight of this at times. We tend to “flatten” our love out and try to make it uniform which is simply not possible or biblically correct. There is a higher calling… more at stake… when it comes to how we love “one another” - and that “one another HERE in 1 John is not to be read as a broad sort of “all humanity-one another”. We cannot expect or hope for the love of Christ to emanate out from the church until it is vibrant within it. Our own internal strife and division works AGAINST those outside of the church identifying us as disciples of Christ. We have an equal or even greater responsibility to “love one another” as we do to love those outside of the church. (We are the family of God, cf. 1 Tim 5:8)

I am afraid we have lost this idea somewhat. It is good that the church has shifted some of its attention to those who are hurting and in need outside of the church family. But what happens when the “love for one another” goes unattended? What do we do when those within the church are withering? Do we spend as much energy caring for “brothers and sisters” in Christ as we do for those outside the family of God? This is not some call to be unloving to non-believers or those who are lost, but it IS a call to think of the importance of love between Christins within the body of Christ. There is a “brotherhood”… (and subsequently) a “sisterhood”… spoken of in the scriptures that is described as a place of unique and powerful love that stands in contrast to the sort of love experienced in the world. There is a “one another” that is used to speak of the church… the people of God specifically. This love for each other is not selfish or “click-ish” - but it is BIBLICAL. To cultivate this sort of love is not wrong, and it has become somewhat a forgotten element of the church in the midst of being “outward focused” and “missional”. We are hypocrites and charlatans if we peddle a “love” outside the body of Christ that is not alive within it. Over the next few days we will look at this idea more. Love you guys! - JDP