Radical Love

I was up late talking with a close friend this past weekend (my best thinking starts after 10 pm.) She has just finished her freshman year at college and was telling me about how much she loved her new church. They immediately made her feel welcome and included, without even knowing her at all, she said. She described it as if they we saying to her, "We love you, we don't know you yet and we'll have time for that later, but we are choosing to love you anyway."

This church group is 90% of what I hear come out of her mouth and it's obviously impacted her life in a huge way. She longs to be around them and with them and loves them like family.

I knew I had read about this sort of radical love somewhere...oh, yeah. The Bible. This is exactly the kind of love that God has CALLED us to give to one another. In John 13:34 Jesus hits his disciples with an new way to live life. He says, "A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
"As I have loved you" refers to God's unconditional love for us and it says that we are to love others with that same unconditional love, meaning without reason. I am going to call this Radical Love. It is not an earned love or a reward for good behavior, rather a decision made to love this person regardless of who they are, how they treat you, what they do, or what they believe.

So, if we are obviously commanded (that's an order, not a choice) by God to radically love others, what's the hold up? So many people despise Christians, saying their judgmental, hypocritical, and fanatics. Personally, I doubt that any of the Christians these people met ever loved them radically. Folks, that's OUR FAULT. We are the ones to blame for our unloving behavior toward others and yet we complain that numbers are down in the church or that others mistreat us for our faith. It is my belief that, just like my friend who deeply desires to spend time with her church group, others would long to be with us if we chose to love them unconditionally.

I believe that we could all begin to love people better simply by changing our greeting-style. Take a look at this typical salutation between Joe and Sarah.
Joe-"Hi"
Sarah-"Hey"
Joe-"How are you?"
Sarah-"Good. And you?"
Joe-"Good."
They part, both relieved to have finished with social formalities without having to tell the other person how they're actually doing because, let's face it, the other person doesn't really care anyway.

Why do we ask how they're doing if we don't care? Would it not be better just to not ask them at all and save them the discomfort of lying to you? Or, we could shock them by asking a different question to show that we are actually interested in what they have to say. For example, "How was______? (fill in the blank with a recent activity they had), or "What's God been up to in your life?. Or maybe, "What's new with your life?" (and don't take "nothing" for an answer)

Think of how strongly we could rattle the world's perception of Christians if we showed them that having Jesus in our lives actually makes a difference in the way we lived, even in the way we greet others.

So, What WOULD Jesus do? He'd love radially.

A Face Full of Mercy

I was in the bathroom a few nights ago in the middle of one round of the way-too-many facial cleansers I use in an attempt to ride my face of acne. I began to fall into the "Life's not Fair" mode, when my mind switched back to a conversation I had with a person very dear to me just a few days earlier.

The topic: Why do bad things happen to good people?
This question had always plagued me before I became a Christian, just over 3 years ago. Why would a God who's good and loving allow His people to suffer?

Since then, I have searched and prayed to find a good answer. My understanding as of now is, 'Because there's no such thing as "good people".' We are all sinners and the payment of sin is death (Romans 6:23) We are getting exactly what we deserve due to our sinful nature and thus our sinful actions.

Yet, though God is just, He is also merciful and has provided us a way out of eternal punishment. He sent His son to die for us, thereby paying the eternal penalty for us so that we don't have to. This does not mean, however, that we will not suffer in this lifetime. In fact, God has PROMISED that we will. (2 Timothy 3:12 "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.")

I began thinking about how many times God has shown His incredible mercy to me, not just in giving me eternal salvation, but in everyday occurrences. He has given me an incredible family who are willing to support me and encourage me, a working brain, functioning body, wise mentors. Yet I have done nothing to deserve these things. I continually fail in my walk with Christ. I am a sinner and deserve every bad thing-every sickness, heartache, and separation from God. Thank goodness life's not fair. If it were, not a single one of us would ever smile, love, or have a relationship with the Lord.

So now, as I wash my face in the morning, I am reminded how wonderful it is that life's not fair (and how much I love the person who invented concealer.)