Why I Hate Selfless Love.

I’m going to risk sounding like a bad Christian and start off this week’s devotional by saying this:

Selfless love sucks.

It takes your resources, your time, your energy. It can range from being mildly inconvenient to downright painful. It means we have to be aware of how our words and actions affect others instead of blurting out everything we feel in a moment. It means we should care for others when we’d rather focus on taking care of our own burdens.

It also means we need to be more like Christ - which sounds pretty ideal until we realize how much hardship and rejection He went through. Do we really want to go there? Nowadays, society won’t judge us for focusing our time and energy on ourselves or for simply chasing what makes us feel good. So why bother?

It is now December, and the answer is basically staring us in the face. The lights I keep driving past may just seem like fun and festive decor to most, but to those who believe in Christ, they should also be a reminder. A reminder that the Light of the World didn’t just sit up in Heaven enjoying Himself.

God’s creation had (and still has) turned against Him. If I were Him, I’d be inclined to say “Well, that was stupid. Screw humanity. I’ll just chill up here while they suffer for rebelling against my design.” But, God isn’t made in my image (thanks be to Him for that!). So, instead, Christ exercised selfless love. He confined Himself to a human body. He chose to help society’s hopeless and looked down upon sinners rather than taking on a glorious political position or snubbing everyone like the “good” people did. He was despised, rejected, and even betrayed by those who said they loved Him.

What does He do in return? He takes on the punishment of damnation so that our debt is paid and we can be adopted into His family and have the ability to love Him.

Selfless love sucks.

But, it was given to us by Christ. So let’s pay it forward. And backward. And everywhere in between. Let’s selflessly love Christ by following Him and His Word no matter what. Let’s selflessly love others because that is what Christ did and wants us to do, too. It won’t always be a warm fuzzy feeling, it may mean we’ll get dirty or uncomfortable or worse.

It won’t be like a Hallmark Christmas flick, but it is the best way we can celebrate Christmas both in December and throughout the year.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.” - John 15:9-17

What happens to Christian loners?

Christians aren't meant to be loners.

I've heard this stated before. I know that the Bible says we should not neglect to meet together. I just never realized how important Christian fellowship is until recently.

About six months ago, the Bible study group that I had been a part of quit meeting. At the time, it didn't seem like a huge deal. Attendance had been way down anyway and it meant I had a free night to work on my projects. Besides, I was still attending church on Sundays. Over time, however, I began to sense myself feeling increasingly dissatisfied, distant with God, and truth be told, a little lonely. Looking back over the times in my life when I felt closest to God, it hit me: those were the times I was closest to other believers. I was surrounded by people who were actively pursuing Him, and they were taking me along for the ride via our discussions.

Something I've found along the way is that there is a difference between just hanging out with someone who happens to be a Christian and having meaningful fellowship. I've spent a lot of time around Christian people these few months. We watched movies, attended church, did craft projects, and had superficial “how was your past week or two?” chats. But I still found myself lonely and starved for real fellowship.

To be truly fulfilling, Christian fellowship can't be continually superficial. We need a few fellow believers who we can be close with. We need people with whom we can intentionally discuss scripture, faith, and struggles. Superficial conversations in between church services are not true fellowship. "I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:17b-19

Are you casting away the messenger?

This was my view at church on Sunday. Currently I am staying in the Nashville area with a good friend of mine, who happens to be part of the video crew. Coming from a basic no-frills church of about 30-40 people (including kids and babies) to a massive church of 1,500 was a bit of a culture shock at first. I feel like a lot of small-church people tend to judge those from the larger groups, making the whole lot out to be somewhat superficial. Sure, they have a lot more lights and flair. Due to size, people do tend to get divided up more so than smaller congregations. They have a much bigger music program, and projectors instead of hymnals. But you know what? We share the same Bible. We share the same God. As long as the church is faithfully teaching exactly what the Bible says, people can learn and grow in Him just as well in a large setting as others can in a small one.

It’s easy to judge in a split second based on appearances, but let’s slow down. When you encounter something new and different, take some time to listen and observe. Don’t be like the Pharisees, who cast Jesus away because He didn’t fit their preconceived notions of what seemed right. Check the message for truth before disregarding the messenger.

When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say. - Luke 11:53-54

Branded for Christ

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called..."  "Be imitators of God, as beloved children." - Ephesians 4:1 and 5:1

Like the soda bottles above are branded with the name of their maker, so we who are in Christ are "branded" as children of God. Each type of soda also has it's own particular traits, causing it to stand out from the others. Even amongst a shelf full of knock-off flavors, everybody still notices the brand-name sodas, bold as ever. Could the same be said of us?

In a place filled with pleasant, decent, yet unbelieving people, do we still stand out as those who are adopted by God? Do we think about our heavenly Father enough to converse about him with our fellow believers and those who may happen to ask about our faith? Are we actively looking for the great things that He is doing in our lives and the lives of those around us? Do we know God well enough to be imitators of Him, or are we merely satisfied to follow our society's rules for being the same type of "good person" that everyone else is?

 We're bound to embrace our "brand". Consider which one you hold the hardest to.

Separating Snowflakes

This morning, the sun came out over the snowy landscape. As it shone, the snow reflected, revealing that it wasn't merely some white mass but hundreds of trillions of individual snowflakes. It was breathtaking! I quickly grabbed my camera and began trying to shoot photos of them.

What I soon realized was this: it's hard to pick out individuals when they are all crowded together. Sure, they were still beautiful, but I wanted to separate them. I couldn't do it with my finger or a piece of paper. Even the littlest bit of heat would obliterate the tiny ice crystals. Perhaps I could blow on them? I tried. It worked, I thought. The dusting of fresh snow that covered the hood of my car was now thinly scattered. Upon further inspection, I discovered that my attempt resulted in enough damage to the flakes that they were no longer as whole and beautiful as they once were, and they quickly melted away.

It can be a little like that in the Christian life too. It's tempting to break away from our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Perhaps we feel like we could learn about God better on our own and don't need the fellowship of the local congregation. Perhaps we break away in the sense that we want to try and do something big for God, but don't want others meddling with our idea, or maybe we've been bickering with our fellow members. Whatever the instance or reason, the end remains the same: damage is done in some form, whether to us, our fellow believers, or both. It wouldn't work if our body parts tried to act as entirely separate entities, and it doesn't work in the body of Christ either.

"For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." - 1 Corinthians 12:14-20