Loving Our Neighbor in 2020
Hello Church!
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of all of us. People of color in the United States feel overlooked and unheard and hundreds of years of injustice are manifesting right in front of us. Some of us are under a mountain of financial hardship following the events of the first half of 2020. Medical professionals among us are bombarded with opinions from cable news MD’s and Facebook pharmacists. Many American conservatives feel like their way of life is being threatened. Amid all the turmoil, I’ve simultaneously experienced hopelessness and hopefulness, grief and excitement, anger and compassion. It’s a complicated season and I think it’s helpful to acknowledge that. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’re finding that it’s hard to know just what to do from one day to the next, from one conversation to the next, in each of our unique lives.
I want to address these topics, but I want to first provide something of a backdrop for everything I hope to share in the coming days and weeks. In the midst of all these concerns, a question rises up and demands I answer it; “what does it mean for me to love and do relationships the way Jesus does?” Asking ourselves this question truly is at the core of who we are as Jesus lovers. I’ve been thinking about John 13:34-35;
“A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
What Jesus is saying here, is that for everything he instructed his disciples to do and for every bit of authority and power that was imparted to them, the time Jesus most distinctly states the defining characteristic for those who are to be his followers, he singles out their love. In other words, I am actually not allowed not to love! The moment I make worry, doubt, anger, hate, or conspiracy my focus, I’ve stepped out of my assignment and into something else! It’s against our nature not to love as followers of Jesus. It’s the key identifier for members in his body.
If love is that serious of a thing, and I believe it is, we need a plan. Saying things like “we are led by the Spirit” or “we love everyone, regardless of race, class, sex, status, etc.” are actually overly simplex things to say when talking about complex practices to implement into our everyday lives. With this essay and the ones following it, I want to spend some time on the practical ways we enter into this work of loving one another. You and I can no longer afford to be, in any sense, people who pay lip service to this radical, self-sacrificial love. We need to figure out how to hold on to love and decisive action at the same time.
Loving our neighbor (Mark 12:30-31) is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Recently we read Jay Pathak’s “The Art of Neighboring” as a staff and it’s had a huge impact on how I’m thinking about my everyday life in terms of loving my neighbors. Watch for some of that content to start showing up on Sunday morning! These hard topics that face us every day are just the things I want to address in upcoming posts in light of what it looks like to figure out how we’re going to do the hard work of showing up and loving our neighbor in practical ways. I’m not talking about things we need to believe, I’m talking about things we need to do.
Another verse I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is 1 Kings 20:11;
“...the one putting on his armor should not boast like the one who is taking it off.”
We’re putting on armour and going into battle against spiritual principalities of racism, injustice, politicism, division, accusation, and anger.
Keep your eyes peeled for the next post… While you’re doing so, I want to challenge all of us to listen more than we speak. A while back I wrote about revival. I think we’re seeing a time of upheaval that’s going to take us toward true revival if we cooperate with what God is doing and we listen for the story the Spirit is trying to tell us, instead of the story the world is trying to tell us (see Isaiah 8:11-14). This season may have felt long, but I actually hope it doesn’t go away soon. I think there is ugliness in the church being brought to the surface that Jesus wants to deal with, personally and on behalf of others, in order to accomplish what he has for us next.
I’m filled with hope when I think about having the opportunity to run that race with my Oxford Vineyard family.
The Judgment Pandemic
Senior Pastor John Richter shares his thoughts about the current Coronavirus pandemic, including a question that many are asking today; “is Coronavirus God’s judgment?”
“Is Coronavirus God’s Judgment?”
This question arises and permeates through the Church. I hear many believers claiming expertise on this issue, saying Coronavirus is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, God’s punishment being visited upon the nations. This claim comes across in subtle judgments about public figures and leaders of states and nations. In fact, every time a major catastrophe occurs, large groups of Christian “experts” declare it is indeed the wrath of God. Historical examples include the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and other national and global tragedies.
I would like to address this “Judgment Worldview” among us as it pertains to the teachings of Jesus and the entirety of the New Testament. First, let me say, I believe God’s judgment is real and Biblical. There are numerous examples in the Old and New Testaments of God executing judgment. Among others, there are two distinct instances recorded in the Book of Acts. One dealing with an Angel of the Lord striking down Herod (Acts 12:18-25) and another to do with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). In the face of these Biblical accounts, Romans 12:18-21 states,
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
In this verse, Paul gives us two distinct revelations. First, Paul cites Deuteronomy 32, pointing out that vengeance, wrath, and judgment are God’s responsibility alone. Secondly, that these things are not our responsibility! Our responsibility is to love our enemies - those who act in contradiction to God and His people - and to overcome evil with good. Jesus taught this same concept on several occasions, including the sayings, “do not judge, lest you be judged” (Matthew 7:1) and, “pray for your enemies” (Matthew 5:44).
We see this demonstrated in the story of Jonah. God tells Jonah that He will judge Nineveh, one of the most horrific and sinful cities on the planet at the time. God then tells him to go and call them to repentance. Jonah makes it clear that he would not cooperate, not because he was afraid of Nineveh, but because he was afraid of God’s mercy toward them. He wanted them to be punished, and in doing so, ignored the assignment God had on his life. Jonah tried to invoke God’s Judgment instead of partnering with God’s Love and Grace.
Let’s assume for a moment that folks who hold a Judgement Worldview regarding the Coronavirus actually got a word from God, like Jonah, about impending judgment. Let me quickly interject that such a word, if it happens to be true, is no small matter and should be handled with great caution. Based on Paul and Jesus’ teachings, should we rush to one being judged with mercy and love or run away and watch them “get what they deserve”? Should we intercede for mercy on their behalf or look on, hoping for their death and destruction?
We must be extremely careful about entering into a judgment mindset. If we want to talk about pandemics, let’s discuss the pandemic of judgment rampant throughout the church. Pointing fingers and calling out leaders by name on social media! Declaring God’s Judgment on a country or nation because of sin. Declaring emphatically that entire cities are being judged by God when a catastrophe or pandemic breaks out. Paul told us that vengeance and judgment are God’s responsibility. When we declare God’s Judgment, we are stepping into a realm that only belongs to God! Jesus taught us that our heart posture must always be love.
Expressing judgment does not fuel love. On the contrary, it provides a hidden excuse not to love! Our assignment as disciples of Jesus is to love people everywhere we go, in every environment, and with every people group! As the prophet Isaiah wrote about us thousands of years ago, “Arise shine! For your light has come!”