Sacrifice

Paul wrote the letter to the Romans to give a full account of "the gospel" (Rom 1:16-17). He didn't know them personally and wanted to make sure they had the clearest possible picture. So he started out right away with ... the bad news. Really bad news. Humans were under God's wrath. Why? Because we suppress the truth about God, and it leads to all manner of sin (Rom 1:18-3:20). Having laid out in great detail the depth of the problem, Paul goes on to explain the magnificence of the gospel (Rom 3:21-11:36). It's huge!

At this point, and only at this point, Paul is able to say, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable worship." (Rom 12:1). It's only at this point he can do that because it's only in view of the vastness of the gospel that "present your bodies as a living sacrifice" is reasonable ... or worship.

What does "a living sacrifice" look like? What is that? He starts by insisting that it is through being "transformed by the renewal of the mind," (Rom 12:2) an obvious necessity since sin rots the brain (Rom 1:22-23, 25, 28). But that's just the start. Ultimately Paul describes this sacrifice as love. "Let love be genuine," he says (Rom 12:9). "Love one another with brotherly affection." (Rom 12:10). Further, "Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." (Rom 13:8). He says that twice, in fact (Rom 13:10).

In today's version of love I don't suppose that makes a lot of sense. In today's version love is not so much "less about me." In fact, it starts with "me." On the other hand, the biblical version is a sacrifice. It is not about me. And if you were to read the Scriptures and ask, "What is the single defining word for Christian living?" you'd have to say it is just this -- love. Jesus said it defined His disciples (John 13:35). What love? Love like He did -- "Just as I have loved you." (John 13:34). Sacrifice. Paul wrote, "Let all that you do be done in love." (1 Cor 16:14). That's pretty inclusive.

When I look at Christendom today, I don't see it so well. I don't see love as the defining factor. That is due partly -- probably largely -- to the fact that the world has so distorted love. Picking through those weeds and thorns to find the real stuff isn't very easy. It's also partly due to how much of the world we believers have soaked up. Which, I suspect, is why Paul warned, "Do not be conformed to the world." (Rom 12:2). We can't fix the world or Christendom. We can ask ourselves, "Does Jesus's sacrificial love define my approach to living?" (Spoiler alert! You may not like the answer.)