A Crazy Kind of Love

A teenager recently told me that she thought Jesus taught a "crazy kind of love." with all His talk of helping the poor, and putting others first, and turning the other cheek, and laying His life for us. Yes, to the world it is a crazy kind of love. But to Christians it is our heartbeat and our calling card.

When you think of the "commandments" of Christ, two things come to mind. One is the Great Commandments When asked what the greatest commandment of all is, Jesus replied that we are to "love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength -- and our neighbor as ourself. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[a]There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31)

He underlined this second one with His "New Commandment" that He gave to his disciples in the Upper Room during his last evening with them.

"I give you a new commandment, that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." It's that last part that makes this so difficult. We might want to get away with "sort of" loving one another, or "I love you but I don't like you" game playing -- but Jesus defines the kind of love we are supposed to have for one another. It's a life sacrificing, outer limits kind of love. Love that gives up self for the other.

And if that is not enough, the actual meaning of the term Jesus used for one another allows no escape hatches or 99 44/100 % loving one another. It means "each one should love every other one." It is no accident that Jesus used the term "commandment" three times in the Upper Room that last night with his disciples. Always in connection with this issue of loving one another. In fact this is the only time Jesus actually said "I command you" with anything.

Why did he lean so heavily on this issue? The First Letter of John takes this so far as to insist that if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars! [1 John 4:20] The way we know we are spiritually alive is that we love each other in the family of faith. [ 1 John 3:14] In other words, mutual love between Christian people is the evidence of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

To put it even stronger. The reputation of Jesus Christ is on the line in our relationships with each other in the church! You see, Jesus had informed his disciples that, the world would know they were his disciples if they loved each other. [John 13:35]

To think that God would not grant me even one exception to this commandment is sometimes hard to take. But here's where the wonderful part of loving God and keeping the commandments of Christ begins. Just at the point where we recognize our inability to do this on our own, the gifts of Christ come into play.

The Gift of Help

Jesus tells his followers about a gift, what the New Revised Standard Version translates as "Advocate". Other translations use the terms "Comforter" or "Helper." The word Jesus used literally means "one who is called along side to help." This in the One who brings "encouragement".

Jesus is referring, of course, to the Holy Spirit. Lot's of people have difficulty understanding what the Holy Spirit is all about -- other than thinking of the Holy Spirit as a vague sense of a "positive influence" or "a spirit of good" in the world. The point here is that Jesus tells his followers that God will send them Someone to keep on helping them -- an Advocate or Helper.

It is clear, as Jesus talks with his followers in the Upper Room, that He can not stay with them forever. In fact He can not stay with them much longer at all. They are upset -- maybe even distraught. He encourages them to hang on to his teachings and to have the care for each other that he has for them. And something amazing will happen. There will be another Helper who will join them and this Helper will never leave them!

In other words, the Holy Spirit is to the followers of Christ what Jesus Christ would be to them if he were here in the flesh! If I honestly, truly have Christ here with me, I just might be able to to accomplish anything in His Name. And you will have the same ability!

And it is my hope that in 2008, the churches I serve, adn the church universal will receive help in becoming the kind of community where people discover a love that "Will not let them go!" The Advocate -- or Helper -- is the great gift of help that we need to keep the commandments of Christ. Ask Him to help you today!