Love Overflows: Day 10
“11For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” - 1st John 3:11-18 (ESV)
What a statement. “Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” This causes my heart to pause with conviction. Have I been loving in deed and truth? Words alone are not enough to display the gospel transformation within our hearts. Love ought to overflow from the place of redemption and salvation. God is love. Now often when we talk about the notion that God, in part of his character is love itself, things sometimes get a little wacky. Either we minimize the notion that God is love for a more stoic interpretation of God, or we emphasize it and treat God like the Beatles soundtrack. Yet, both extremes miss the point. God is love and as children adopted into the family of God we ought to also love. This love is not some fleeting emotion, it is a lifestyle we live.
It should be the way we love one another as believers that causes the world to be confused. It should be the way we provide for each other’s needs, stirring one another up to live as followers of Christ. This is something the early church did well. Extremely well. However, these days we often minimize this aspect of Christian living for the sake of our convenience. We use the idea of “boundaries” and “personal space” as means to keep the uncomfortable reality of bearing one another’s burdens far away from our lives. Or we only do it when it is convenient to us or benefits ourselves. Yet this was not the reality in the early church.
First, a point of clarification, I am not saying that boundaries nor personal space is anti-gospel. That would be stupid. I am also not saying that being a Christian means you are walked on and taken advantage of for “love".” In reality, there have been many to abuse the nature of Christian generosity for selfish gain or addictions. Many live unhealthy lives and cling to the first person to fulfill their needs with little effort or involvement from themselves. These toxic traits have left a bad taste in the line of generously caring for others’ needs. In an age of drug addiction, alcoholism, and social/economic prejudice, we are often hesitant to truly live in an open Christian community. Rightfully so in some regards.
However, there is a reality we cannot escape and that is gospel-modeled community is open and generous. Christians should be seen based on the way we care for one another. We should be seen as counter-cultural in our community. That we first seek to give, rather than to take. Wisdom is truly a blessing from God and through his Holy Spirit living on the inside of us, we have direct access through prayer to wisdom and discernment. We are called to love in such a way that it angers the world around us. That the world would witness a generosity and love that seems outrageous yet caring. One thing to note is that the consequences of actions do not always equate to the emergent sacrifice of others, as making bad decisions isn’t anyone's responsibility but that person’s. This is where wisdom comes into play, as you do not want to fuel the fire of unhealthy traits and behaviors. However, in its purity, a gospel-centered community works. It works because it is how God has designed it to be. Anything less is less than God’s intended design for community.
Do you love only in words and talk? Or do you love in deed and in truth? If your life was evaluated based on these questions, what would be discovered? Gospel living is not always easy, but it is always fulfilling in the end.
