September 19, 2023
As we continue to look at the variety of “one another” commands, I keep coming back to what Jesus said to his disciples in the upper room, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” I confess that I don’t fully understand how this works – that the way we treat one another within the church will be impactful and noticeable to those outside the church. And if I’m not careful I can start to run every interaction through the “how will this be perceived by others” filter. This emphasis is not only deeply anxiety producing, as I ultimately have very little insight into how others perceive me, my actions, or the actions of our church, but it also puts the cart before the horse. The command is to love one another. Our identification as Jesus’ disciples, and the impact that has on “everyone” is the byproduct of our loving relationships. Or, to use a biblical metaphor, the fruit. That fruit is not mine to force into existence, but the work of the Spirit in the lives of those around us.
So in this way, the command to love each other is also an invitation to faith, to trust that God, in God’s ways and in God’s timing, will take our growing sacrificial love for each other and bring it before those around us, in whom he is already working. There the Spirit awakens longings for this kind of love, which ultimately is found in Christ alone.
I can relax into this. I hope and pray you can too.
Lesslie Newbigin puts it this way:
“I have come to feel that the primary reality of which we have to take account in seeking for a Christian impact on public life is the Christian congregation. How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by It.”
– Lesslie Newbigin – The Gospel in a Pluralist Society
–Mark
