Thoughts.com Blogs - Christian love

   a friend of mine mentioned to me that the Body of Christ that is represented by his church is in need of maturation. i have an opinion on that. first of all, no congregation stands alone if they believe in the Lord. i read in fascination a report that said that 5 % of the people who say they are born again do not believe in Jesus. that is like 5 % of the folks who say they are wet not believing in moisture. the only two species i have read about that physically are literally born again are kangaroos and seahorses. not once have i heard of humans leaving one womb and climbing into another. i am writing to the 95 %.
   much of what passes as "Christian love" is simply human love in a church context. before you throw me out, let me explain. one disciple was at the crucifixion. at least we read of only one. if there were more, i apologize to them. but the ones who didn't show up had not yet caught on that this is about more than feelings. feelings are legitimate. they are a huge portion of how we investigate our worlds. when it is cold, we wear more clothes. but if someone came in to church one morning when it was 3 degrees outside and said, "i am wearing a Christian coat because God told me to wear one," i would ask what was wrong with their central nervous system that God had to say, "where is your coat in this frigid weather?" we have brains. my kids knew about coats when they were three. in the context of human activities, our brains are pretty good tools. but "Christian" is over and above that. Christian means little anointed one. and it is that anointing that is the measurable difference in our lives.
   so specifically what i am referring to with human love masquerading as Christian love is evidenced by the cliques and avoidance of folks in the congregation. think hard. are there folks in your congregation whom you can't stand? have you left a church in a huff? have you ever found yourself chewing over church folks and how they were insensitive or unfair toward you? i have. i think without supernatural intervention, and if you go to church more than Christmas and Easter, these personality issues are unavoidable. and as a parent whose kids were more peaceful around each other than any two kids i have ever seen, i still wept internally the few times they were being mean or insensitive to each other. i do not compare myself to God as a parent, but i wonder what occurs in the heart of the Father when we backbite and gossip about one another. we, the church worldwide, are His Bride. we, the church worldwide, are His Body. in an age of mega-churches and celebrity pastors, it is easy to get introspective as congregations. but no church that believes in Jesus Christ is alone. if you are the biggest church in the world, you are miniscule. you are one small cog in the Body of Christ. get over yourself.
   it is instructive that few passages of Scripture are there to lock us into certain behaviors that are positive and uplifting. we receive general teaching about how to love and relate to each other, but extremely detailed instruction about what to do when there is a schism in the Body. i defy you to get God to agree that your resentment toward another is legitimate. anger is fine. Scripture says, "be angry and sin not." but there are details with that. "let not the sun go down on your wrath." "pray for those who spitefully use you." "death and life are in the power of the tongue." resentment, which is anger revisited, is not okay. love, you may be surprised to hear, covereth a multitude of sins. you can not nag or yell or remind another of sin that God has already forgiven them for and stay inside the lines.
   your revival may have five thousand converts. if you have not prepared your church to receive those people in Godly love, the revival is useless to your congregation. in a year or two, without instruction in love and how to forgive, you will need another revival. your church didn't grow. it just got fat. the maintenance of relationships is left to us. and souls are lost when our petty selfishness decides for us to spend our time in resentment instead of love. this is one way the anointing makes our lives possible. He was sent to lead us into truth. the church will become the "matured" group we hope for when we start paying more attention to the Lord than ourselves, at least for a few minutes a day. even righteous indignation has no place in our lives. only the Lord has enough self-control to have righteous indignation and not have it devolve into simple anger. and since we think it is "righteous" indignation, it is unlikely we will repent from it in time to let not the sun go down on our wrath.
   we blame each other. we blame satan. we blame sin. and the only one who can forgive someone for what you resent is you. human love is great. it feels good. it causes us to do neat things. but the church will not be able to overcome until our love is more than human. we must give up our "right" to concentrate on other people's failings and begin to invest in their success. after all, as a sinner, you had severe BO like everyone else. the church worldwide will experience great strides forward when we give up our anger and allow God to invade and inhabit our love. i pray that you and i together can start this trend. see ya.