Loving Others

Loving others...well, this seems simple enough right? I have heard many say that Christianity is nothing more than "loving God and loving people." I have thought a great deal about this statement, and although have had my qualms with it in the past...I am starting to believe it true.

The problem lays with the "nothing more" part of the statement. Nothing more? Really? Ministry, Christianity, the church, it's people, if it were to work through this statement, would indeed find solutions to many of it's problems. In 1 John 4:16 it says "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." So why is this so hard?

1 John 4:17-21 continues with saying...

"In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."

At a Christian University you would think this would be understood...you would think it to be the banner held high in the ministry department...instead when "loving God and loving others" is mentioned one can look around only to see eyes rolling, hear exasperated sighs and slight chuckling. Why? Why has this become an icon of scorn? Is it because it is overdone or misunderstood?

A student can gain all the wisdom of the world...all the facts...all the philosophies...all the theories of theology and ministry, but without this passion...without love it is, as our Ecclesiastical friend would say, "vanity."

A professor of mine said that we, as students, have become institutionalized. We never want to leave this place. Of course we all say how badly we want out, but really deep down many of us fear what is to come. We would prefer discussing deep ideas and "dreams" brooding over coffee, then getting out there and "doing" ministry and loving people.

The passion has become distinguished...how do we fight it?

1. Presence with God - I believe that prayer is breathing with God. It is timing our breaths with His, our thoughts with His, meeting Him where He is ...not the other way around. It is alining our hearts to His and if God is love, than how can we not have that love if we are "breathing" with Him?

2. Presence with people - When you are being with people, really being with people, in their hurts, in their pain, crying with them, laughing with them ...being with them...sharing life with them you cannot help, but to love them. I'm not talking about coffee meetings, class time, or movies on a Friday night... I'm talking about the real issues in life. I'm talking about being a shoulder to cry on, affirming truths in their life, lending a hand...sharing your life with them.

3. Presence with the church - The church is by no means perfect, but it is real. It is up to you what the church looks like. It can be a place where everyone wears a mask, it can be a place where people come and hide ...or... it can be a place of true community, true family, a picture of love.

4. Presence with the here and now - "My" generation seems to have the tendency of either looking of what has been or what could be. We look at how it was in high school or maybe even college as the "golden years," losing sight of the present time. Another common error, that I easily fall into, is that of looking only at what is to come. By living in the past, or even the future, we fail to see the here and now, and in that we fail to love those in the here and now...

The LORD's

Seeking identity, value, and truth,

looking for answers to questions of worth.

El Elohe Israel written in Your Word,

El Elohe Rachel is what I've inferred.

Asking for blessings in this turmoil,

wrestling and hoping, my heart is in toil.

I take a new name as I search for more,

my name is now Jacob, Israel, the LORD's.

I find my identity in the God that I love,

I look to Him for answers above.

I am a servant of the LORD, my God, Yahweh,

It is written on my hand, my heart, and all that I say.

Jesus, lover of my soul...

Jesus, lover of my soul,
Jesus, I will never let you go
You’ve taken me from the miry clay
You've set my feet upon the Rock, and now I know

I love you, I need you,
Though my world may fall,
I’ll never let you go
My Saviour, my closest friend,
I will worship you until the very end

...this song. This song may very well be my theme song for the year. It's simple. It's true. It's beautiful. Jesus loves us...I know this sounds like a line from your 1st grade Sunday school classroom, but it still reigns true. He doesn't just love you...He loves the very core of who you are ...He loves your soul. He sees past the shortcomings, the mistakes, the mask...He sees deep within to a place that often gets ignored, hidden, or ...hurt and yet He loves you.

He never lets go of us, but we sometimes let go of Him. As the second line insinuates it is up to us whether or not we hold on or not. Now the third line...it is so raw and rich. We are always told that God is molding us like a potter does clay. I picture the potters wheel with God's hands pushing in on the clay in all different directions...adding pressure, smoothing out imperfections, removing air pockets. This clay does not fight back, but allows the ultimate artist to form it into something amazing. This image does not always appear comfortable for the clay...but in the end...in the end the clay is a piece of art.

Sometimes in life I feel like I am floating. Anxiety sets in. Fear. Pain,...but God is the rock on which we are to stand. When lies creep into the back of your mind...when insecurities flood in and start to take over, God is the rock...He is the truth. And the truth remains that He is the redeemer, the restorer, the healer. He is love.

Now this last section of the song, I feel is almost a groaning from the soul. "I love you, I need you..." Proclaiming the truth that on my own...on your own...we cannot do it. We cannot make it. We need God. We need His power, His protection, His healing touch...His love.

"Though my world may fall..." Life hurts. I was at a funeral of my grandmother last Fall and with tears streaming down my face I looked towards a man that I consider one of the wisest people in the world. He, with his arms stretched in a hug around me, said "With great love, comes great risk...and you sure loved her a lot." Love is a risk. There is always a chance that your heart will be torn into a million pieces...even if you do everything right. Even if you love another person with all that you have...the world may still fall.

But...God is the healer. God restores and redeems. God is where we are to put our hope. God is love. Even when we are hurt and cannot understand...even when things don't go as planned...even if it feels unfair...God will not leave us in the pain...He will come through...so don't let go of Him.

The end of this song is powerful for me as well. "My Saviour, my closest friend" How incredible that the author and redeemer of the universe offers to His children ...friendship. He offers to us... love that will never fail. As a result the song ends with "I will worship you until the very end." Through the sorrows of life and the joys we...I...am to worship. To cry out. To proclaim God as Holy.

I hope to live this song out. I hope to live with love...to live without letting go of God...to let Him mold me...to see His truth...to recognize that I need Him...to rely on Him in times of desperation...and to worship God until the very end.

the beginning

I wonder…

I picture the world without people…

The ocean…

the mountains…

the sunsets…

the first snowfall…

Sea turtles hatching following the moonlight

stars that fill the skies

Giraffes …

I picture it all so beautifully crafted. so beautifully, so delicately, untouched.

I then see one lone man. Adam.

Adam saw it all. First.

Imagine.

Each day Adam probably experienced something new, something beautiful.

No hurt. No pain. No fear.

Just trust. Innocence.

yet…

yet Adam had no one to experience this aw-inspiring world with. He had no one just like him to turn to and …

enjoy life.

See God created Adam and Eve to co-exist. To trust each other. To love each other. To …

enjoy life together.

In this world no one was created to be alone. God created something beautiful…He created companionship… companionship with Him and companionship with others.