Radical Love- Part 1

I've been prayerfully planning on doing a three-part blog on "Radical Love", influenced in part by the fantastic book "Radical" by David Platt, but more because I see that loving people and loving God is an area of weakness in my life. So here we go.

This is part 1, and I will be writing more specifically on the second greatest commandment, "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31). If you're looking to learn more about loving God, read "Loving God with All You've Got" by Sunder Krishnan. It's a fantastic book that addresses this issue wonderfully.

Before I get into part 1, though, a short word on love. Most people refer to 1 Corinthians 13 as the "love chapter", because it is all about love. If you aren't familiar with it, I strongly encourage you to go read it right now, as it is a phenomenal chapter on what love truly is. But I would present 1 John 4 as a chapter in the Bible that is just as important when it comes to talking about love. 1 John 4:8 states that "God is love." This statement is essential to knowing what love is, for while 1 Corinthians 13 describes love brilliantly, 1 John 4 tells us plainly and firmly what love is. 1 John 4:19 is very important, as well: "We love because He first loved us." If He didn't love us first, we wouldn't be able to love anyone else. So in seeking to love others better, this is a main thing I learned- we need to learn what it means to be loved by God.

Part 1- Radical Love as loving the Body of Believers

1 John 4:7 says "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." So we're called to love one another. For a long time I looked at loving people as being able to "bear" them or "stand" them. I thought that even if a brother in Christ was provoking me (or vice-versa), as long as I could be in his presence without doing or saying anything stupid, I was obeying the command. Nope. I was way off.

Remember that 1 Corinthians 13 I was referring to earlier? I challenge you to take that definition of love (specifically verses 4-7) and insert it whenever the Bible (and especially Jesus) says "Love". "Love your enemies". Ok- so I need to be patient with my enemies, be kind to them, not boast over them, not be irritable or resentful with them, bear all things from them, endure all things... etc. etc. Crazy, right!? But what did Jesus do? Turn to the end of any of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John) and see how Jesus endured patiently, was kind and not boasting... and we're called to walk as He did (1 John 2:6).

Not just with our enemies, but with our brothers and sisters in the Lord! The sad thing to me is that when I think of any "enemies" that I may have had in the past (or still have?), the only people that come to mind are people who profess to be brothers in Christ (and I truly believe are). There have been times in our college or high school careers that I did something that made them angry and then there was a rift between us for a long period of time- disunity in the Body! I am not exempt in this scenario by any means- I have been at part of the fault, definitely- but the majority of the time I have sought to make peace and sometimes it happened, other times not so much (see Romans 12 and Matthew 18 for more guidance).

I think of loving the Body of believers differently now. Hebrews 10:24 is another verse that has really helped that: "And let us spur one another on towards love and good deeds." Don't just be able to bear being in their presence, but as the body of Christ, we are called to spur one another on towards love and good deeds! What have you done today/this week/this semester that has spurred your brother or sister on towards loving others better? To doing good deeds? And this is what the author of Hebrews is saying we're called to do: spur each other on.

Synergy is a word that comes to mind when I think about this. When I was on the executive board for IV at JMU (a phenomenal time of growth), this word came up when we thought about how we desired our chapter to be. Synergy means, according to dictionary.com: "The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects." So, when they come together, these two (or more) "agents" have a greater combined effect than the sum or their individual efforts. When we're spurring each other on towards love and good deeds, this is happening. We are greater for the sake of Christ together than we are apart.

Finally, Mr. Ian Thomsen provided an excellent illustration for how we should be loving each other. Please read this excerpt from his Sports Illustrated article, talking about professional basketball arenas:

"In Europe, the mood is entirely different (than in the United States). The fans chant and sing and generate their own entertainment. The most passionate supporters in Europe don't want to be entertained by the players -- they aim instead to inspire the team while enjoying themselves."

The European basketball fans don't go and pay to watch basketball games asking "what can we get out of this game?" The most "passionate" fans don't care about being entertained- "they aim instead to inspire the team while enjoying themselves".

What if the Body of Christ looked like this? What if instead of us constantly asking "what have you done for me lately?" to each other, we sought NOT to get anything from each other but instead to inspire our brothers and sisters around us to love God and love others through good deeds? This is what I believe the author of Hebrews meant when he wrote "spur one another on towards love and good deeds." This is what I believe Paul meant when writing about being "unified in the Body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 12). And this is what I'm confident Jesus was talking about when He prayed in John 17 that we "may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me."

Be unified, inspiring and spurring each other on toward love and good deeds, not so that the world can see and praise us, but that they may praise God and He would receive all the glory.

Matthew 5:16-
"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

1 Peter 2:12-
"Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evil-doers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

Love radically, brothers and sisters, for the sake of Christ, in the Name of Christ.

For His glory...

Luke