Learning to Love

 

“They will know we are Christians by our love” goes a phrase in an old song. The New Testament speaks of Christians being noticed for their love – towards each other and towards their “neighbor”. The implication is that this is a rare thing – people honestly loving and supporting others – so odd, that Christians showing love would really stand out.  The love spoken of is, in Greek, agape, unconditional love, freely given, no strings attached. This is loving like Christ loved. Agape love is Fruit of the Spirit. God loved me, so much that He died for me to enable forgiveness of my sins, and I am supposed to be both forgiving and loving to others, despite their sin.

I find myself laughing at comedians mocking politicians, including President Trump. I enjoy their spot on mimicry and their ability to cut through it all to show the nonsense. Today, right after laughing through such a TV clip, I was caught short by the book I’m reading on Christ’s love. Christians are told to love, openhandedly. We are not encouraged to pick and choose whom to love. We are told that love should become part of our very nature, Christ-like, agape love.  Do I love Donald Trump in that manner? Absolutely not. And I was convicted.

It’s this same lack of Christ-love that marks too many of us Christians. We say we love the sinner and hate the sin – but our behavior doesn’t reflect those words. To most of the world today, Christians are seen as moral bullies seeking government legislation to limit what we read and do. The entire abortion issue is a case in point. The new laws are so strict doctors are afraid to even help women having miscarriages, or hemorrhaging periods. These laws were created with a sense of religious piety – sanctity of life of the unborn, but what about the sanctity of the women? These laws leave these women high and dry and feeling anything but loved and supported by the communities who enacted these laws, many of whom are self-identifying Christians.

And how much of Christ’s love am I feeling for those pious Christians and their laws? Not much.

So where does that put me?  Can I love Donald Trump with Christ’s love? Can I hope the best for him, offer him kindness, grace?  I realize I struggle with the same crisis as the pro-life group. I have a great deal of difficulty loving those I disagree with.

 I think it begins with recognizing that none of us is perfect. The Bible teaches that everyone sins and falls short of the standard God demands. None of us can save ourselves, even if we are the best person who ever lived. Take Mother Teresa, she understood that she needed a savior. All her goodness and acceptance of the unlovely in the world couldn’t/wouldn’t save her. And she would probably tell us that the only way she could love the unlovely was having Christ’s love in her.

So if none of us, no matter how “good” we appear, are without sin, why do we give one another so little slack (let alone love)?  We all need a savior because we can’t save ourselves. We cannot meet God’s standard without his providing the way. We are all in the same boat, whether we are Mother Teresa, Donald Trump, the homeless man down the street, or me. And if that is the case, why can’t we have pity and grace for people who have yet to recognize this truth? And beyond that, why can’t we have pity and grace for just people, especially those who are different from us?

If I believe I am better than someone else, if I think I have less “sin” to atone for, then that makes it easier to judge and belittle, even bully that other person. I feel self-righteous pointing out their faults (or laughing at them). If I believe we are all equal, and none of our personal goodness buys us anything in God’s bank, then I tend to look at others differently, like we are in the same predicament. What right do I have to judge them, when I can’t maintain a life without sin? 

Maybe I think my sins are not as bad as another’s.  I’ve never murdered anyone. I’ve never robbed a bank or pushed someone down to get to the front of the line. But I have enjoyed jokes at the expense of others. I have gossiped about people. I have colored my story to make me look better. I have refused to love people I don’t like or agree with.  I’ve sinned plenty. And since sin isn’t about quantity or even quality, I am still a sinner, just like everyone else. God doesn’t judge like we do – he looks at us all as sinners. Period. Good news, he sent Jesus to take care of that issue. On the cross, everyone was forgiven, even the people I dislike. Now it’s about choice – Jesus or not. If we choose Jesus, we join God’s family. If not, well then we choose to live without him. We refuse to accept his forgiveness, so we choose to live “unforgiven”.

I’ve chosen Jesus. I’m still a sinner. Every day I make bad choices. But I am a forgiven sinner. Not because I’ve done anything at all. I am forgiven because I accepted God’s gift of forgiveness. Now I have other choices regarding how I live with this forgiven life. Do I seek to live this life so I reflect the marvelous gift I’ve been given? Do I seek to live a life full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control? Or do I see a life that crushes others, points out their weaknesses, laughs at their issues?

Even forgiven, I can still sin and make a real mess out of my life and others. I’m still forgiven, but if I choose to live in my remaining sinfulness, to what purpose? I can be a better person.  I can learn to love people I dislike. I can learn to give compassion and mercy to those less fortunate, including those who have yet to choose God’s forgiveness. I don’t always do this, because I often choose sin over God’s power in my life. And God lets me make that choice. It’s not what he wants; it’s not my best life. My best life is letting him produce his Fruit through me, including loving those I don’t wish to love.

There are many issues on which I disagree with our current President. But regardless of that, I still have the responsibility to love him as Christ loves. I can only do that through allowing Christ’s love to flow through me. And that comes with my making a willful choice to do so. Truthfully, I don’t want our president to fail. He fails and we all do. So, I have begun praying for our president. It’s a step.

At church today I heard a song that spoke to all God has done for us/me, especially in giving his life in my place and forgiving me. One line stood out “If you gave your life to love then so will I.” I want to choose to love, forgive and live as Jesus. Philippians 2:13 “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”