The New Testament
provides abundant evidence that early followers of Jesus did not share
the same convictions on a variety of issues that found their way into
Christian doctrine. They held very different opinions about the divinity
of Jesus, the nature of God, the ministry of the Spirit, the meaning of
baptism, the role of women in leadership, and more. Despite this lack
of doctrinal unanimity, the membership, ministries, and influence of the
early church grew inexplicably rapidly and widely.
While reflecting on
this in "The Underground Church: Reclaiming the Subversive Way of
Jesus," Robin Meyers writes: "... uniformity has never and never will be
achieved. The church can survive a diversity of gifts and styles, a
diversity of worship and liturgy, even a diversity of ways to express
the ultimate mystery that is God - but only if love rules. ...a church
can survive differences of opinion. It cannot, however, survive a
deficit of love."
Before nodding in
agreement, remember that in scripture love is not an emotion. It is a
decision, a life-changing decision about how to treat and live with
everyone. Referring to members of the faith community, Jesus commands,
"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have
loved you, you also should love one another" (John 13:34). Referring to
God and those around us, Jesus commands us to love God and our neighbor
with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30-31; Matthew
22:34-40; Luke 10:25-28). Referring to those we prefer to ignore, Jesus
commands, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those
who curse you, pray for those who abuse you" (Luke 6:27-28). Followers
of Jesus answer a call to radical love. Loving like Jesus commands will
not resolve our doctrinal disputes, but it would profoundly change all
our relationships.
When acting in love
comes first, no doctrinal disagreement will keep us from working beside
another believer to help one of "the least of these." The hungry have
little or no interest in our theological convictions or worship
preferences. They want to survive and would like to know that someone
sees and cares.
When loving comes
first, what we do and do not believe about God matters less than what we
do for and in the name of God. In an ancient Jewish tale a rabbi
explains that he did not hear a baby crying because he was deeply
immersed in prayer. Another rabbi charged, "If you were praying to God,
God would have told you the infant was crying." Fervor and purity do not
excuse us from being visible members of the Body of Christ where and
when we are.
When living in love
comes first, we know that although not everyone appears to deserve our
prayers, God deserves our prayers for everyone. Scripture does not
invite us to pick and choose for whom to pray. Because in love we want
the best for all God's creatures, we pray and work for the benefit of
the violent and their victims, the terrorist and the terrorized, the
smug and the humble, the callous and the tender-hearted. We constantly
live in the tension justice and compassion generate. As we rail with
Amos, "let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an
ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:24), we also look for ways to assist those
carried away by that tide.
The
call to radical love we receive as followers of Jesus demands more than
we can offer. It reminds us of our constant need of God's grace and
each other. We learn to love like that one small step at a time. It's
easier to memorize creeds and debate doctrine. Yet, when all is said and
done, do we want (and does God want us) to be known as folks who always
have an answer or as folks who "live in love, as Christ loved us and
gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God"
(Ephesians 5:2)?
Grace and Peace,
LP
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