Where is the Love?

Even though I think that the black eyed peas did a good job on the song "where is the love" that is not my inspiration for today's post.  I would love to think I was that hip and cool but, well, I am not. :) ...  Anyway my mind has been pondering the idea of loving each other and how that is supposed to work.  As Christians we are told, instructed even, to love our enemies, to bless those who persecute you.  This is not only to help on a practical level and diffuse conflict, but also to be a testimony of what Jesus has done in our lives.  People more and more have embraced this idea as a part of their outreach.  I am glad to see people take an active love based approach to reaching out to the lost and hopeless world around us.  It is who we are to be as followers of Jesus.

Yet ...  I am troubled.  We are also instructed to love one another.  To show selfless, care, concern, and service for other believers.  we are to live in healthy community, encouraging people and meeting their needs.  We are to be a people known, not for our political moral stance, not for our scowls and frowns at those who do not measure up, not for our strict rules and policies, not for some legalistic mindset about how life is to be lived.  No we are to be known for our love.  This is to be a reputation not just for how we deal with those outside the Faith, but for how we treat each other inside the Faith.

This means we are to go out of our way, out of our comfort zone, away from our own desires and felt needs and instead to embark on a journey of entering the world of others.   so that we can share true love and encouragement with them.  We are to serve each other and that means we are not to get ourselves into silly petty disagreements about things that are different or new, but are not in anyway against the teaching of Scripture.  Here is a great example, I will pick on the men.

We were in a Church that had men's breakfast events every couple of months and their would be a speaker and some singing and some guys in the kitchen making a big breakfast for everyone.  This was a great time and encouraged a lot of the men.  When it was brought forward that it would be good to have something more often.  The idea was quickly shut down because no one would commit to plan and operate such an event more often.  The guys who brought forward the change then responded that the additional times could be simpler, a time of devotional and prayer then go out to a local restaurant for breakfast.  This was met with a scowl and a response along the lines of we don't expect our guys to go out for breakfast, it would become a burden.  This became a problem, a division among men.  It never should have.  Those guys many years ago may have had good points for discussion on both sides of the argument, but there was no real reason for the argument other than some people like control and do not like anything new.

Instead what should have happened is acts of love.  Love should patiently listen to a new idea, it should respond with kind wisdom and encouragement.  On issues like this we should never take a harsh stance, it is simply not worth it.  I believe people mean well but they do not think through how their response to another person's felt need will be taken.  They may not mean to come across as a person who lacks love and care but in their hasty harsh response they do not realize they have hurt others far more than the issue warranted.  We all need to learn to live in a way that shows healthy love.  I know that most of you are like me and it is not "natural".  That is common because showing love is not out of our personality it is a spiritual issue.  How and why and whether we show love to our brothers and sisters in a proper way is a spiritual issue.

We need to repent of our selfish attitudes, when we respond without love it is my own flesh that is responding.  When we respond properly in a loving way, honoring Christ, then it is Jesus in us showing up and responding.  This should be our desire, not to allow our natural person to show up and cause problems.

So let us live in humble repentance, seeking to build one another up in the Faith with encouragement and Love.

Walk on together!

Pastor Bruce