Love as affection often happens without our will. People "fall in love".
As affection eventually diminishes staying in love must be worked at by both parties.
The person loving must encourage feelings of affection(work) and the person loved must behave in a fashion that encourages affection.(earn)
What begins as unintentional and automatic becomes intentional and deliberate.
This intentional and deliberate love is required of all Christians with all people; those they know and those they have never met.
What makes the Christian different from the rest is that he is required, by God, to love in this manner regardless of the behavior of the person being loved.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
I love to serve.
I love to serve people food. I love to prepare it and make people happy with this part of hospitality. I especially love to serve my wife, but I still thoroughly enjoy serving anyone. It does not matter who they are or where they come from or what they look like. I never think about if they deserve it or if I could slack off because their not that important. I just serve to best of my ability.
Why then do I seem to have a problem with serving people as the Church. Why do I make a mental note of who is worthy and who is not. It's like I think the Church's reputation will be soiled because we are serving THAT KIND OF PERSON. I feel like the Church will be seen as indorsing sinful behavior.
This is crazy thinking. In my life I serve tens of thousands of meals a year. Never once do I consider that I am endorsing some behavior when I serve them. I don't ask them to clean up their acts before they can have something to eat. It seems to me that the Church should be the the same way.
Why then do I seem to have a problem with serving people as the Church. Why do I make a mental note of who is worthy and who is not. It's like I think the Church's reputation will be soiled because we are serving THAT KIND OF PERSON. I feel like the Church will be seen as indorsing sinful behavior.
This is crazy thinking. In my life I serve tens of thousands of meals a year. Never once do I consider that I am endorsing some behavior when I serve them. I don't ask them to clean up their acts before they can have something to eat. It seems to me that the Church should be the the same way.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
What does it mean to judge somebody?
If a person is stealing for instance, is it judging to say that he is wrong to steal. If a person engages in a sexual relationship with someone other than their spouse, is it judging to say that he is committing adultery.Do my own actions and personal sins make it so that I am not allowed to make a judgement call on what is right or wrong in these areas? I have never actually committed adultery, but I have certainly lusted after someone other then my spouse. I have certainly stolen before. Do I have the right to point their sins out then?What are the prerequisites for engaging somebody about their sin?
My wife thinks that it is not my place to confront sin in people that I have no relationship with. More and more I am beginning to see this as true. I would be quite put out if a stranger, or even someone I know but am not close to, called me out on my sins. I would think them presumptuous to approach me. I believe I would feel that they were being self righteous. I understand that these feelings might not be an indication of reality, but the perception of judgement would certainly be real.
When I don't have a meaningful relationship with someone, all I can do is judge their actions. I can not judge what is going on inside their minds. I do not know the struggles that they face. I don't know the pain that they carry around within themselves. I can see that it could be cruel to try and convict someone of their sin when you don't have the whole story. C.S. Lewis says that we can only judge people by their external actions. Only God can judge people for their moral choices. What he means is that we have know way of knowing what is going on in the mind of any individual or how much self control he is exhibiting in any given situation. A man perverted by his circumstances to believe that cruelty is fine might be exercising super natural restraint when he shows the slightest kindness or stops himself from some cruelty that he would have otherwise have committed. God alone is the final judge of this mans soul.
But if you have a close intimate relationship with someone, you have a window into their soul. They have let you see them for who they are and you are able to discern better what is going on inside. It works both ways because they are able to discern your choices as well. You can hold each other accountable. But the close relationship removes the feelings of being judged and replaces them with the feelings of being loved.
To be clear actions are still right or wrong, good or bad. But it is not my job to point out peoples sins to them, That is the job of the Church proper, and the Holy Spirit in particular. It is my job as a fellow follower of Jesus to, as Greg Boyd says, "shut up and love them".
If a person is stealing for instance, is it judging to say that he is wrong to steal. If a person engages in a sexual relationship with someone other than their spouse, is it judging to say that he is committing adultery.Do my own actions and personal sins make it so that I am not allowed to make a judgement call on what is right or wrong in these areas? I have never actually committed adultery, but I have certainly lusted after someone other then my spouse. I have certainly stolen before. Do I have the right to point their sins out then?What are the prerequisites for engaging somebody about their sin?
My wife thinks that it is not my place to confront sin in people that I have no relationship with. More and more I am beginning to see this as true. I would be quite put out if a stranger, or even someone I know but am not close to, called me out on my sins. I would think them presumptuous to approach me. I believe I would feel that they were being self righteous. I understand that these feelings might not be an indication of reality, but the perception of judgement would certainly be real.
When I don't have a meaningful relationship with someone, all I can do is judge their actions. I can not judge what is going on inside their minds. I do not know the struggles that they face. I don't know the pain that they carry around within themselves. I can see that it could be cruel to try and convict someone of their sin when you don't have the whole story. C.S. Lewis says that we can only judge people by their external actions. Only God can judge people for their moral choices. What he means is that we have know way of knowing what is going on in the mind of any individual or how much self control he is exhibiting in any given situation. A man perverted by his circumstances to believe that cruelty is fine might be exercising super natural restraint when he shows the slightest kindness or stops himself from some cruelty that he would have otherwise have committed. God alone is the final judge of this mans soul.
But if you have a close intimate relationship with someone, you have a window into their soul. They have let you see them for who they are and you are able to discern better what is going on inside. It works both ways because they are able to discern your choices as well. You can hold each other accountable. But the close relationship removes the feelings of being judged and replaces them with the feelings of being loved.
To be clear actions are still right or wrong, good or bad. But it is not my job to point out peoples sins to them, That is the job of the Church proper, and the Holy Spirit in particular. It is my job as a fellow follower of Jesus to, as Greg Boyd says, "shut up and love them".
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