Christian Love: What It Is and What It's Not

Hello everyone. I'm John Lynch and this is John Lynch Speaks.

I'm trying to make it look like it's two weeks later and everything, got a different shirt on, but you can see by my hair this is just about an hour after the last one I did. But these thoughts and again, they're about a month or two after the event. Last Wednesday was the Capitol incident where it was overrun. And so I have no idea what has happened since then. We may have merged with Costa Rica as a peninsula, a consortium by this time, I have zero idea. But it caused me to create a message for Sunday morning, out of 1st John, that I was invited to speak. It caused me to think about what is uniquely, distinctively Christian love in a season of such divisiveness and heartbreak and pain and ugliness and division.

So today, last week or two weeks ago, I walked through some verses on these truths about unity. And I just want to remind us of that hardest of hard things Jesus asked us to do in John 13:34. No, not an 11th commandment, but a whole new order of commandment. Love each other. You who have put your hope in Me, love each other. You, for the first time of any people, you have the heart to do it. So I want to make a distinction for a moment about us as citizens, even as a Christian citizen. Love doesn't demand that I enjoy everyone the same. As a citizen, even as a Christian citizen, love doesn't demand that we can't disagree. Love doesn't demand that I can’t espouse unproven theories. Love doesn't demand that I not have strong takes. Love doesn't demand that I stay in a place that no longer fits me.

But Christian love is unique. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and I don't have love, I become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I do not have love, I have nothing. So what does love look like specifically? Love is not, I'm sorry. Love is. Phew, that would change a lot. Love is kind. It is not arrogant. It does not act unbecomingly. It does not seek its own. It's not provoked. It doesn't take into account a wrong suffered. It does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, hopes all things, and love never fails. Yeah. Love does not gossip, does not mock, does not spread rumors, does not tear each other down. Love does not create pockets of us and them. Love does not let fear toss committed love into the shadows. Love does not model disunity to the world. Love does not elevate political positions over unity in Christ. Love does not allow the world to decide who we get to love. Love does not join in those attacking your brothers and sisters. Love does not elevate any country over God's love for this world. Love does not believe any people are more worthy of His love. Love does not favor a particular socio-economic group. Love does not devalue any particular race. Love does not allow the unhealthily divisive to yell at us who to hate. Love does not lob hand grenades from behind anonymity. Love does not hate, even those who are messing with your world. To you, you gave all that up the moment you put your hope in Jesus.

But love does, it keeps coming back. After friendship seems to be ruined, love discovers the ability to find and to own when I've been wrong and done wrong. Love finds the ability to apologize. Love finds the ability to make amends. Love finds the ability to forgive. Love submits under the way Jesus sees life. Love stands with believers who believe politically different than me. Love plays no favorites, it loves who God brings in the door. Love pursues innocence and vulnerability. Love draws closer to weakness and failure. Love meets needs. Love discovers the needs of my opponents. There are many religious systems which will allow you to hate each other, this just doesn't happen to be one of them.

Well, that's enough. I have so much more I'd like to talk about on this subject and maybe we will. But for today, I've run out of time. Love you guys. So grateful to get to do this with you. I'm John Lynch and this is John Lynch Speaks.