They Will Know…

The other day, a young lady had called into a radio program that was discussing the pros and cons of Christian business owners serving certain segments of the population, namely the homosexual community. In her opinion, the Christian business owner should be able to service the need of people within the homosexual community based solely on the words of Christ from John 13:35, where He says, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Now, before I make my comments, I want to say that I agree with her on the point of Christian business people serving the needs of those within the homosexual community. For example, if I have a restaurant, I wouldn’t decline service to a homosexual, but I would serve them and try to make their dining experience the best that it could possibly be. I serve them, even though I don’t agree with their lifestyle. In context, what Jesus is saying to the disciples here is that they need to be servants to one another, because at the very beginning of the chapter, He has shown them just how to serve…by washing their feet.

Now I know that some of you are going to say, “How can you think that way?” Because I believe that we, as a Christian community, often speak loud and proud about what we disagree with instead of demonstrating our love to people. If we were to really love the homosexual, would they not see Jesus in us?

But here is where I disagree with this woman’s use of this particular verse in her argument. Jesus is not saying that the world will know we are Christians when we love homosexuals…not at all. He is saying that they will know we are Christians when we truly love EACH OTHER. That means, the world will see a difference in us because we are in unity, and our love for each other is demonstrated in how we serve each other. So remember that our love for the world around us isn’t the thing that will define us…the world loves the world. The defining attribute of love for the Christian is that love we show to each other.

What do you think? Leave a comment and tell me your understanding of the issue. We love to hear what you have to say!

Think about that today, and God bless you!

Love That Shows

“If you love me, then you will keep my commandments.” –Jesus

Jesus was very clear in what He expected from His followers. He knew that they would have trouble knowing if they loved Him or not. If most of us are honest, I am sure there are times that we would wonder if we really are following Jesus the way we ought to. Truth of the matter is that it’s hard to know when we’re “doing it right”.

So Jesus tried to make it very plain for us to follow. He said, “If you love me, then you will do what I tell you to do.” Now that is a paraphrase of the words of Scripture, but it means the same thing. An if/then statement says that if the requirements of the “if” side of the equation are met, then the outcomes stated in the “then” statement will also be true.

Here’s an example: “If I step off the edge of a 100 story building, then I will fall to my death.” So what this is saying is that if one steps off a tall enough building (in this case, 100 stories), then they are going to die. Hopefully that clears it up for us enough to understand what Jesus is trying to tell us, His disciples, here.

He is simply saying that if we truly love Him, not just saying that we do, then we will live that out in obeying His commands. This is how we show Jesus we love Him. When we obey, we demonstrate our love for Him.

So what does that mean for us today? I hope that it is obvious, but just in case it isn’t, let me help you with it…demonstrate your love for God today in the way you obey His commands. Is God asking you to forgive? Then forgive! Is God asking you to give up your comforts to go talk to a neighbor who is hurting? Do it! Is God asking you to give up your job and take another one with less hours so that you can spend more time at home with your family? Don’t wait! Do it!

When we obey God, we demonstrate our love for Him…and in so doing, demonstrate to the world around us how much He is Lord of our lives!

Think about that today! And God bless you!

How Can We Do It?

Yesterday's blog challenged us with some very difficult things. We were challenged to love those who have betrayed us, hurt us, gossiped about us, and so forth. We were challenged that those people deserve our love, because they have God's love, and because Jesus died for them. We are called to love like Jesus loved, and therefore, we are called to love them as well.

But as I thought about this, the obvious question that came to my mind was, "How? How can I love those who hurt me, my family, or my kids?" Today I want to explore that just a little bit.

It is my contention that the only way we can truly love those who have hurt us in such a way is because of the love that we have been shown. Jesus, in Luke 7:36-50, tells the story of two men. One owed his master the equivalent of $60,000, the other owed him $6,000. The master canceled the debt of both of them. Then Jesus asks this question, "Which of these two men loved their master more?"

This is poignant question because it gets to the heart of the matter. It speaks to the fact that our love for God is based on the love that He has already shown to us. 1 John 4:19 speaks to this when John says, “We love because he (Jesus) first loved us.” We are able to love those who hurt us, betray us or whatever, because of the love we have already received from Jesus.

Chris Tomlin sings a song that talks about God being a “Good, Good Father.” This song demonstrates the love that God has for us in that He is a Father who looks after His children. He loves us so much that nothing stood in the way of Him getting to have a relationship with us. He loves you and He loves me. This love is the springboard from which our love for the people around us swells…no matter what.

It is my hope that you can love the way Jesus loved because of the love that you’ve been shown.

God bless, and we’ll see you on Sunday!

Love Like Him

Yesterday we touched on the fact that God is seeking followers who will love like Jesus loved. We noticed in John chapter 13 that Jesus washed His disciples' feet, a task that was reserved for the lowest servant. Jesus even washed Judas Iscariot's feet...the man who He knew was going to betray Him later that night.

Now I touched on this a bit in my sermon, but I wanted to expound on this just a bit in this blog post. Namely, that Jesus' love didn't stop with just those who loved Him and treated Him with respect and dignity. He loved Judas, even to the point of serving him by washing his feet (John 13:1-28). He loved His captors even to the point of healing one who had been injured (Luke 22:49-51). He loved those who crucified Him even to the point of forgiving their sins (Luke 23:33).

So what does this mean for us? Simply this: showing love to our neighbors, families, even our enemies, doesn't stop...no matter what. We are to love the way Jesus loved. He showed love by laying down His life for His friends, yes, but He also laid down His life for His enemies as well. Jesus' death and His life was for all people. Men and women; Americans, Muslims, Mexicans, Canadians, Brits, and all other people groups of the earth; Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and all other skin colors; His life and death and were for ALL of them. So when we live our lives, when we love through our service, sacrifice and smile, we should do so for all people everywhere.

Love like Jesus...there is no greater way to show the world that you are His disciple!

We'll see you on Sunday!

Celebration Week 6

This week we've heard some hard things for us to hear. I hope that you can find encouragement in what we've said and understand that these things are not said to knock us down and depress us, but to
"spur us on toward love and good deeds." (Hebrews 10:24)

It is also my sincere hope that as you continue to walk in obedience to the Word of God that you read each and every day that you will find yourself continuing to become more holy and more like Jesus. This holiness that you exhibit will be the light that shines to a dark world that denies the very existence of God. We know Him, and to know Him is to love Him and to love Him is to obey Him. So walk in the knowledge, love and obedience of God to a life beyond anything that you could have imagined!

And CELEBRATE!!

And we'll see you Sunday!

Love Your Enemies?!?! Really?

Have you ever felt as though you were being singled out by God? That somehow what you were experiencing was unique only to you? Did you ever feel yourself getting angry at the circumstances of your life and think, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!"?

Well, if that's the case, get ready because we're going to be talking about this very thing this Sunday at Grace Church. It is my hope that we will find out what God wants us to really think about our circumstances and respond accordingly. But to get ourselves ready for that, I want us to look at two passages of Scripture...one today and one tomorrow.

The first passage is from Matthew chapter 5, verses 43-48. Go ahead and read that now. If you don't have a Bible with you, click here. Then come back to the rest of the post.

Okay, so what do you think about what Jesus says here? This is some of the most difficult teaching that I think Jesus gives us, because it so goes against our natural inclinations. Our default setting is to hate our enemies and do our best to get even with them. Most of your super villains fall under this category. There is some slight done to them and now they must get their revenge... muwahahahahahahahah (for those of you unfamiliar with the super hero genre, that's an evil laugh).

But God has a better way in mind, and that is for us to love our enemies. The best way to accept this teaching is by understanding what Jesus says in verse 45, when He reminds us that God sends the "sunshine on both the evil and the good..." He tells us this because we need to understand that people are all essentially the same. None of us is better than the other and we all need to be sensitive to this fact.

You and I all live under that same sun, the same sky, the same clouds, the same rain. God is not a respecter of persons, and He will allow things to come into each of our lives, both good and bad. So do not focus on what is "fair". Focus on Jesus!

Please feel free to comment below or ask a question. And we'll see you Sunday!