Is This Too Simple?

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
John 13:33-35 (NRSV)

I love the fact that Jesus doesn't make things complicated. He states the command very plainly. In fact, the reason for the command is so plain and simple it is easily missed. By this (love for one another) everyone will know..... It is easier to bring our own ideas to the table, as the cartoon suggests, than it is to adjust our lives to what Jesus says we actually need. It's just a thought.

He has all the authority to make the statement "I give you a new command". This is not a "holy suggestion" but a command. So, what will we do with it?

It is so tempting to get caught up in the trappings of trying to attract people (to the assembly; to Christ) that we can loose sight of the simplicity of what Jesus is saying. He is commanding that we love one another. Sometimes that's a tall order. He is calling us to internal work not the external work of making a facility look attractive.

When I was in College I took a substance abuse course. One of the course requirements was to attend an AA meeting. So, I found the local meeting place. Nothing special, very smokey, very small, but very impressive. A couple of things that I noticed was that they had something in common that brought them all together and that they had a common love for one another.
One of the reasons AA is so successful is its use of Biblical principles.

If love is what Jesus calls for, then love is what we need to apply so that the world around us will know. In 1 Cor. 13 God is letting us know what love does and doesn't look like, how it behaves. So, my thought is that we need to spend more time learning & applying love and less time coming up with our own ideas about what will attract people to Christ. He has commanded love for a reason. He knows what the world needs to see. He knows what will impact hurting people the most. Not banners or signs or whatever we think people will respond to. I believe people are sick of fake phony religion! I really don't think we need to make it more complex than it actually is.
Is this too simple?

Deny