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Published: 06 August 2015

I’ll start with a quote from someone I read quite often .  “The church exists to help people form loving relationships that move them in the direction of their destiny.  If we are not being influenced to that end and influencing others to that end, a checkup is necessary.”  Okay, that was from my own blog two weeks ago and I only read my own blogs to proofread them well before sending them out to the public.  The reason I restate that truth, and it is a truth, is because I’ll be revisiting the subject this coming Sunday.  We become “rugged individualists” for any number of reasons.  Some people struggle to love and receive love because of issues in their “home of origin.”  Some people have been deeply hurt by others and simply do not want to try again.  Some people are introverts and feel drained after spending time with others.  Some people are just selfish and find other people are in the way of their own agenda.  Whatever the reason or the excuse the truth is, we were designed for interdependent relationships that move us toward what God intended.  Some relationships are not helpful because the end result is not righteous but unrighteous.  Bad company can corrupt otherwise good people.  The body of Christ should be a place where our love increases more and more, where that love is characterized by discernment and where we approve things that are excellent.  (See Philippians 1)  Loving one another is not easy; no one ever said it would be.  But, loving one another is essential to our growth and just as important, it is proof of our relationship with God.  There are some people who want Jesus without the Body and there are some people who want the Body without Jesus but both groups are wrong.  Jesus and His Body go together.  Are your current relationships moving you in the direction of your destiny?  Do you have people you can pray with?  Is anyone currently assisting you to take on the likeness of Jesus?  It was my delight this past week to read some essays by C.S. Lewis, in “Membership,” he wrote, “The Christian is not called to individualism but to membership in the mystical body…and we shall first be true persons when we have suffered ourselves to be fitted into our places.”  We need the Head of the Body, Jesus Christ…and we need the Body of the Head, the Church.  Love one another and find out who you really are.

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Published: 23 July 2015

The Beatles made that line popular a few decades ago and it sounds good, even the tune is catchy. You might be humming it in your head right now. But the truth is, you also need God and while “God is love,” we cannot say “Love is God.” God is a personal being, not a force or an emotion. In fact, without God we have no basis for love. I would (as others have) take it one step farther and say that without a Trinity we have no basis for love. Love is as eternal as God and the reason we long to receive and give love is because we are made in His image. A few weeks ago a friend said to me, “It’s really quite simple, just love God and love people.” It’s hard to argue with that given that Jesus said the Great Commandment is to love God and love people. However, boiling down the commandments to that summary is much simpler than actually doing what that simple statement commands. Personally, I find loving God and loving others quite complicated at times. Sometimes I have no idea whether I am loving God with all my heart, soul and mind. And loving others? I don’t know what expectations to meet and what needs to meet and how often to meet either one. I’d like to understand it all well but if I wait for that I won’t do any of it. I don’t understand electricity but I keep flipping the switch! I saw a great line the other day that said “If you find Love One Another too complicated, just switch the last two words…Love Another One.” That’s pretty good. We can only love the people we are with and that must be at least part of what Jesus meant when He said to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Our neighbor is simply the person nearest to us that has a need. We need relationships characterized by love. Relationships characterized by love help us become what we were designed to be. Other relationships may help us feel better for a little while but they do not produce the likeness of a gracious God in our character. The church exists to help people form loving relationships that move them in the direction of their destiny. If we are not being influenced to that end and influencing others to that end, a checkup is necessary. We need God, we need others. We must love God, we must love others. This is more connected than we often admit and we’ll talk more about that on Sunday as God wills.