Truly Loving God = Deeply Loving People

 

You may be wondering what I consider the MOST important of my theological absolutes. It is my belief that centuries of ignoring a critical command issued by Jesus has led us to where we find ourselves today in America, and beyond. A place where Christian’s proclaim a Gospel of division while behave in ways that are contrary to the heart of the Gospel message proclaimed by Jesus!

In Matthew 22:33-40 we witness an interaction between Jesus and the most pious religious leader of His day where we see clearly what He, the very son of God, declared to be the most important of the commandments.  

When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?”

Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”  Matthew 22:33-40 MSG

At East Lake Community Church we have a vision statement (see above) that is referred to around our church by using the phrase “Love God, Love People“. In that short but simple phrase you can find all my theological absolutes. The previous four cover the Love God portion in the ways that I remain committed to what I see clearly defined in His word as necessary guardrails to guide my life.  But it is in the second half of the command that you find my fifth nonnegotiable principle: my love for God MUST always result in loving people unconditionally.

I want to love like Jesus loved and  I want to love like Jesus loved because the longer I walk in relationship with Him the more convinced I am that it is not my job, & never has been, to condemn people for their sins, as I believe the Bible defines them. But rather it is my calling to love ALL people deeply right where they are simply because they have value as His creations. This includes those who don’t believe as I do and/or those who choose to love different lifestyles than I do. It is equally important that I strive to ensure that this is a love without condition or without any motive to change them. After-all, I claim that I serve a God who knows each of us intimately, desires our best, & offers grace beyond description. 

My love of God along with my personal commitment to understand His truth, teaches me that He alone is capable of knowing what changes or lifestyle adjustments any of us need to thrive in our identity as His child/creation.

Fellow Christians please join me in choosing to LOVE ALL PEOPLE just as Jesus did. Let’s show the world the same kindness, grace, & value that we ourselves say we depend on daily in our own lives in order to defeat the false narrative espoused by many claiming the title of Christian today.