Don't Be That Guy

The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. (Rom 2:24)

Jesus said, "By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). Well, that's pretty clear. Not really tough to understand. Not hard to interpret. Jesus said it in the giving of a "new commandment" He issued -- "that you love one another." Hey, hold on a minute, there, Jesus. That's not a new command. No, that wasn't, but His standard was. "Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34). Oh, now that was new. Not merely, "As you love yourself," but "As I have loved you." That is, with total abandon. At great price. He loved us to His own death. Jesus loved in a way that exemplified humility (Php 2:3-8). "There," Jesus said, "love each other that way." And that would be the hallmark of Jesus's disciples. That kind of love.

How are we doing? I'd say not so good. Instead of "Look how much those Christians love each other," we find a lot more of "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you" (Rom 2:24). Christians aren't known for their love for each other. We're known for our infighting. We're known for our judgmental attitudes, particularly toward those with whom we disagree. And that category is ever expanding. We're known for mistreating sinners rather than calling for repentance. Now, I get it. Some of what we do is love; it just doesn't necessarily look like that to the world. I get it. Warning a person whom God says will not inherit the kingdom (1 Cor 6:9-10) to repent looks judgmental, but it isn't always. When a call for repentance is out of a deep concern for the well-being of others, it's not judgmental. But for so long we've hid behind that "It's not judgmental if it's out of love" while not calling for repentance out of love that we're now getting to the point where we're proud of being judgmental without love. We even malign our fellow believers for being concerned about being respectful and gentle in our discussions (1 Peter 3:15).

I don't want that to be me. I don't want to be one who causes people to blaspheme the reputation of God because I opted to refuse to love like Jesus loved. I don't want to make self-centeredness and self-righteousness my standard of "good." I don't want to find my joy in exercising the "Someone is wrong on the Internet" option. I cannot afford to fail to stand (Jude 1:3; 1 Cor 5:1-2), but my stand must be for Christ and not me -- my pet ideas, my favorite politicians, my personal preferences. I want to be known as one who loves ... like Christ loved me.