1 John 4 - Walk in Love

When I read statements of condemnation and hatred from Christians in the news, I struggle with how to respond. Part of me wants to get angry and cry out against this, but I also don't want to be like the people I am upset with; I want to make sure my response is thought out, so what did I do? I went to the Bible...and came across this scripture in 1 John, chapter 4:

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Reading it definitely caused me to stop and think, in fact it raised a lot of thoughts and questions....so WARNING: Possible stream of consciousness coming.

Look at verse 7 and notice that is says that EVERYONE who loves is born of God and knows God. Anyone who loves, and I don't know anyone who has never loved, is from God and knows God. We all have something inside of us connected to God. For some, that may draw us to God and for some that may be an ignored or not understood part of our being. But consider, if everyone is born of God (or comes from God), that everyone should be treated and revered as God's creation. If you are trying to live as God asks and love, this verse does not allow for us to pick and choose which people we respect and treat with dignity, it tells us that all who love are of  God. So where does hatred and condemnation come in???

In verse 8 we see, "God is love". If God is love, than each act of love is God revealed. SO God is revealed through another person's loving actions. The person may not always be loving and we may not always agree with the person, but at least part of the time, that person is revealing God to us. If you separate yourself from that person, you are separating yourself from the opportunity to have God revealed to you by that person...and consequently receiving less revelation of God. Is that what you want? Less God? At least most Christians claim they want more of God. So how do you accomplish experiencing more of God if you are spouting hatred and condemnation?

I love what verse 10 tells us. It says, :This is love." It is getting ready to hear what love is, but it starts by telling us what it isn't. It isn't that we love God. Why isn't it? Well, our ability to love is flawed. Point in case, we say things which condemn and express hatred for others. Our love is tainted and impure. So what is love? Love is that God loves us. Here we are, impure and sinful, but God gives up Jesus to be sacrificed so that we may be seen as pure. Love is something pure and holy. What we express is a shadow of love because it is not fully pure. What God expresses is love, pure and holy, and the example of love we strive for.

Verse 11 encourages us to follow God's example of love. If we are receiving pure and holy love from God, we need to try to reflect that out to people. This is not done through hatred and condemnation but through encouragement, discipline, and acceptance of people. This does not mean you like or love everything about a person, sometimes they disappoint you, or reject you, or hurt you, but we need to respond in love. Sometimes people disappoint, reject and hurt God too. God so loved that god sent Jesus to die for us that we might be forgiven and seen as pure and holy. 

Judgement is for God, for God has full and complete understanding, only God is worthy to judge and we need to leave that to God. Instead of hatred we need to speak and act in love. Instead of condemning, we need to reach out and accept people and let God worry about the rest.

So my response? LOVE. In love if I have access to the people speaking out in hatred and condemnation I can point out that there words aren't loving.  I can make sure I am not passing on these statements, thereby growing the problem, and I can speak words of love and encouragement into these situations.

Will you join me in walking in love?

Matthew 7 - There's a lot Underneath the Surface that We Don't Know About

Last Saturday, a friend shared a story with me about her daughter's first dentist appointment. When the dentist office said they were going to take x-rays, she was a little worried about how that was going to work, but it worked out fine and she was explaining the awe of seeing adult teeth sitting underneath her daughter's baby teeth and all I could think was, there is a lot under the surface that we can't see.

I have been running that idea through my head this week as I think about people and things I see. I was drawn to a couple of ideas in Matthew 7. The first is the idea of not judging others which Jesus talks about in verses 1-5 of the chapter:

“Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ³ And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

As I thought about this, I was reminded of those teeth, sitting under the surface, that we can't see, and I think about people I know, with many things sitting under the surface too that I don't know about. Are they good? Are they bad? Is it mine to determine? 

I think the truth is that it is complicated. These verses remind me that I, too, can be judged and I know that I am not perfect. There are plenty of labels that I wear, that people could hear or learn and paint their own picture of who I am. They could also witness one soundbite  and determine my character. Would they be accurate? They could be, but probably not. There is a lot going on under my surface, in my mind and my heart. 

Let's look at two labels I wear, Christian and gay. Part of me doesn't know where to start with what ideas and images people might have of me given these two labels alone. These labels evoke many ideas and emotion in our current society, but here a few negative ideas or thoughts I have heard and run across:

• You can't be Christian and gay
• Gay...flouncing fairy
• Christian...judgmental holy roller

The interesting thing about these is that they just don't fit. First of all being gay is your sexual identity and being Christian is your set of beliefs. They can easily exist in the same person. Christian beliefs guide my actions as a man everyday. And I am pretty sure that people who know me would not say I am a flouncing fairy or a judgmental holy roller. 

Instead, most people would say that I am pretty normal, although possibly quirky, with geeky tendencies. Also, people have remarked on how open to hearing and understanding others I am. I don't believe we have to agree to love and care for each other, but I do believe in respect and understanding. And there is a lot under the surface that you don't know about. God has me on a journey and even I don't know where it ends up or all the ways I will be shaped along the journey.

Matthew 7:1,2 is often associated with the idea of walking a mile in another person's shoes. I agree with that. I don't think you can truly understand the place a person is coming from without dialogue with them and you can't appreciate where their ideas come from without taking time. If a person is a part of your life, it is important to understand who that person is. Labels, which we use as a quick way to understand people are not really effective because there is a lot going on under the surface that we don't know about. 

But where does that leave us? I think the answer to that is to see what fruit the person bears.

¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Take the time to walk a mile in a person's shoes and observe the fruit of their life; following both of these ideas will help you evaluate a person and your response to them. 

It makes sense to us to do this for the people who are family, friends, co-workers...people who are engaged in our lives, but that is not where it ends. In this season, where we in the US are preparing to elect a president and soundbites and labels abound. Will you determine a person's worth based on soundbites and labels or will you walk a mile in their shoes and examine the fruit of their life?

There is a lot under the surface that we don't know about.