16 12 / 2010
Commanded to Love!
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
My fellow brothers and sisters. I’m afraid that we, Christians, disciples, followers of Christ, whatever you want to call yourselves, have forgotten about this important mandate from our Lord Jesus Christ. Obviously, we know OF this verse and probably some of us have even memorized it. BUT, somewhere between our head and our hands, this instruction has either been completely lost or significantly altered. Metaphors aside, the simple point is that (a lot of) Christians do not LOVE in the way Jesus commanded us to LOVE! Some of us exemplify Christ’s love better than others, but there is always room to grow! Hopefully, this post will challenge us to reflect on our lives and the way in which we carry out this commandment.
The first point to fully understand is that we, as Christians, are COMMANDED TO LOVE! As simple as this statement may seem, I am convinced that we still don’t get it! In the military, when a superior officer “commands” a lower ranking soldier to do something. That task will be done. No buts or questions. To the soldier, the command is not a “guideline” or a “choice.” It is an order that must be obeyed. In the same way, Jesus Christ commands us to love. We can either be obedient or disobedient to that call. Unfortunately, there is no middle ground. Generally speaking, I would say that most Christians are loving and nice people. The problem that I see is not that Christians don’t love, it’s that Christians are too content with how much they love. Sooo, the follow up question should be, “so how are we supposed to love?” To answer that question, let’s look into the Word of God.
In the beginning of John 13, John (the author) writes about the famous story of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. In order to fully grasp verses 34-35, we must first understand the context in which Jesus said what he said. Compare verse 14 with verse 34, and it is obvious that the language Jesus used was extremely similar in both cases. When Jesus spoke of the new commandment in verses 34-35, was he connecting it with what he just said in verse 14? The answer is YES! Soo, what can we learn about love in the act of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. Obviously, serving is a form of love, but I want to dig deeper into how and to whom we are supposed to love. It is not explicitly stated in the text, but I think Jesus was trying to imply two main things about love. 1) Love your enemies and 2) love is manifested and perfected in humility.
When Jesus was washing the feet of his disciples, I think we often forget that Jesus also washes the feet of Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would eventually betray Jesus. I feel like the command to “love your enemies” has become too theoretical or too lofty to take seriously. How often do we pray for our enemies, not that they would change or be humbled, but for their well being? How often do we serve them, despite knowing that they won’t recognize our actions? Anyone can love the lovable, but Jesus commands us to love the unlovable just as much as the lovable. Sometimes, who we think are unlovable are actually more lovable than we initially imagined and vice versa. For example, many of us who went on overseas missions have no problem praying for and loving the people there, but it’s a completely different issue when it comes to our parents or siblings. We bicker, argue, fight with our family members all the time, but rarely do we actively love them. Who’s the real “enemy” in our lives? Who are the unlovable that we ought to love? Let us strive to love our enemies, just as Christ loved His enemies, namely us.
The story of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet creates a powerful image of what humility looks like. Without humility, there can never be true love. Let me unpack that statement a little bit. To start off, it’s amazing how easily love can lead to arrogance and pride, rather than humility. Is serving and loving others a way for us to feel good about our own piety? Do we serve and love to be recognized by others? The reason why we struggle with these questions is because humility and love are not working together. To my shame, I am a very proud young man and far too often, I have approached love without the backdrop of humility. Without a humble heart, we cannot love others as Christ loved us. We know this to be true because Christ himself could not have loved us, unless He humbled himself. Soo, what should we do? Humble yourself BEFORE you love. Love others in secret. Love others knowing that you will not be recognized. The beautiful thing about humility, is that God receives all the glory. We keep none to ourselves and everything goes to God as it rightfully should.
In light of all that was said, I am first to admit that I fail to do the very things I just wrote about. I chose to write this post, not because of its prevalence in my life, but rather, because of the lack thereof. It is out of deep humility, and not of arrogance, that I am even able to write these strong words. It is my genuine hope that these words will not be condemning in any way, shape or form. Instead, may we be encouraged by God’s words and excited to live passionately for the Kingdom of God! As children of God, we are COMMANDED TO LOVE! So, let us LOVE, because Christ first LOVED us! May others SEE this LOVE and give GLORY to our Father in Heaven!
On a side note. As the Christmas season begins, let us not be consumed by the traditions of the secularized holiday. Instead, let us remember and reflect on the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May our minds be focused on Him and not on gift-giving or extravagant Christmas decorations. The birth of Jesus is too significant and too wonderful to be overlooked! As my pastor jokingly says, Christ-mas means “more of Christ!” (For those who don’t know, “mas” in Spanish means more) Amen to that! In the next couple weeks, let us think about more of Christ and less of everything else!
