More On Love

Thinking over my earlier post on how certain online ministries redefine love, I failed to employ one of the greatest stories and examples of Christian love out there. And it comes from the greatest book ever written, the Bible

In Luke 10, Jesus encounters a man who an “expert in the law” … someone who no doubt knew just about everything there is to know in the old testament. Trying to test Jesus, the man asks a question.

…what must I do to inherit eternal life?

So Jesus asks him what is written in the law, and how does he interpret it? The man replied that you must love God, and love your neighbor.

But you see, even the simplest of tasks seem to get complicated by people trying to justify their actions. Love, as I mentioned in the previous article, is hard to do. When we are hurt by someone, it’s hard to love them. When a person is wrong, it’s hard to love them. When a person seems intent on smearing us, it is hard to love them. So we justify our actions as “loving” and go along our merry way thinking we are pleasing God. Unfortunately for the man who talked to Jesus … he decided to let Jesus have a say in his behavior.

Thinking that he would be able to trap Jesus in a loophole of some sort, the man asks “who exactly is my neighbor?” I’m so impressed by Jesus’ wisdom in his answer. He tells a story. He doesn’t fly off the handle and accuse the man of being a shallow Christian (or worse, imply that he isn’t a Christian at all). Instead, He uses an object lesson to get his point across.

So I figured I’d take a page from Jesus’ book. For the sake of argument, we’re going to assign the role of the man who was robbed to a nameless pastor who (again, for the sake of argument) is wrong in his message and his method. Read the following story of a man in need. And read an example from Jesus own lips of what loving your neighbor really means.

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins[a] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

Notice what didn’t happen.  The man who was said to have best represented neighborly love never scolded the man for traveling alone.  He never attacked him saying that he was an easy target for the thieves.  He just loved him.  He went out of his way to meet his “felt needs” (ooo, that one won’t go over too well).  He loved him by his actions.

Love is apparent!  And likewise when a person lacks love, it shows!

Be like the Samaritan.  People have needs …  and Christians should have plenty of love to go around … yes, even for other Christians.

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