This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love
one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and
killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what
was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world
hates you.
If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it
proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is
still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really
a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within
them.
We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for
us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough
money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no
compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other;
let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show
that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and
he knows everything.
Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God
with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey
him and do the things that please him.
And this is his
commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one
another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with
him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us
lives in us. --1
John 3:11-24
In the wake the dead and wounded at
the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, I cannot understand how
we have arrived where we are in the
United States. My heart aches and reels as I think of the senseless act of
violence that occurred during this time of worship where most of the
congregation present was shot and many have now joined the church triumphant. I know that this is not my most eloquent blog. I am trying to find expression to a deep pain I feel for so many today.
In a way, the many recent attacks should not surprise
us. In the 1 John, the Bible teaches
that there is evil present in the world.
We have seen its manifestation since the time of Cain and Abel. Evil and
hatred cannot stand those who seek to be faithful. Even Jesus told his disciples that they would
be hated and persecuted for his name’s sake.
As hard as all of this is to
comprehend, I am taken aback by something that is far more dangerous, much more
malignant, that I am beginning to see and hear. It is the opposite of love
being shared throughout our nation in response to this violence.
No, I am not talking about hatred. I
am not talking about anger or malice. It is apathy – just not caring. In 1 John 3, the Bible asks, “If someone has
enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no
compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?” How can we have love and show
no compassion? How can we see the evil
and violence and not respond with outrage?
We have become a culture so inundated
with mass attacks and murders that we seem to be losing our ability to deal
with them. We turn off our
emotions. We do not allow the news to “get
to us.” We get myopic in our vision and
can only see the narrowest tunnel directly in front of us. It’s not that we approve of what has
happened; we just do not react much, if any, at all.
We go on with our lives pretending that everything is just as it was before. But, things are not the same. The world continues to change. Evil continues to find its expression through countless actions big and small throughout our nation. The Church needs to decide how we will respond in the face of such active and present evil.
One of the greatest moments of
condemnation for the early church comes in the Book of Revelation. In a series of letters to 7 churches, Jesus
gives words of encouragement and warning to those being persecuted – except to
the church in Laodicea. Instead of encouragement, they receive only anger as
Jesus says, ““I know all the things
you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the
other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit
you out of my mouth!” (NLT, Revelation 3:15-16)
The word for ‘spit’ as it appears in
the Greek is really closer to ‘vomit.’ They are not hot, but neither are they cold. It is a 'lukewarmness' that is more than unpleasant. Jesus tells the church in Laodicea that their apathy makes him sick at
his stomach, makes him want to throw up. Of all the faults and flaws that the
early church could have, apathy is the one that gets the strongest reaction.
We are called to love. Love moves us to compassion. Love moves us to mercy. Love drives us to cry out for justice. Love
leads us to sacrifice for the sake of another.
In the midst of the barrage of violence in and through our culture, love
demands a response.
I do not have an answer to the
problem of evil in our society. However, I do know that apathy will only create
the environment needed for it to grow.
It is time for the Church to once more be known – not by our buildings,
our programs, or our scandals. It is
time for the Church of Jesus Christ to be known by our love. We must cry out as individuals, as congregations, and as denominations calling evil by name, wrapping victims in arms of love, and helping potential perpetrators find the redemptive love of Christ.
Our world needs the Church to be known for our radical love. May God have mercy on us and give us strength as we seek to love
today.
Grace
and Peace,
