Jesus commanded us to love one another, and this commandment recurs often in the Bible with surprising intensity. We can see the reason for this constant emphasis on love when we see the wear and tear in relationships between Christian brothers and sisters. How God's work is torn down and hindered by constant quarrels and strife, suspicions, slander, envy, pride, self-interest, distrust, and the list goes on. It is easy to say "I love you" 100 thousand times, but it's another thing to do it once in reality.
However, we can't bypass the word of God, not if we want to belong to God, 1 John 4:7: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love has not come to know God, because God is love". The commandment of love may seem overwhelming to you and me, like a mountain with large stones that roll over you with every meter you climb. Everyone you try to love responds with nothing but a fist, sooner or later. However, nothing works without God's help, not for us who belong to Him, "for the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Rom. 5:5). Only through the Holy Spirit, in our close communion with Jesus, we can and should love.
When I was quite newly saved in the mid-90s, I ended up in a Christian community where there were about a dozen people devoted to Jesus. You could almost "touch" the atmosphere of Jesus' love that flowed through the community and the care for each other. There was no competition, on the contrary, we did our best so that each one would be established and blossom in their gifts. It was the same in the city's evangelization; they came from different churches, all of whom were passionate about winning souls. Together, we went out in the unity of the Holy Spirit and evangelized. It was very blessed! Despite less significant doctrinal differences, the focus was only on the salvation of souls, and the Spirit was at work, love flowed.
Today, over two decades later, we find ourselves just before the Second Coming of Christ, "and because lawlessness will increase, the love of most will grow cold" (Matt.24:12). This is a fact! Hearts seem to harden, as lava exposed to cold turns into sharp boulders. Everything from "Truth Riders" who, with harsh words and deeds, cut down everything and everyone who does not think and do exactly as "I think and do" to world records in complacency and compromise. If there is something we should defend, it is the central truths of God's Word and the Gospel, not backing down there a millimeter, not seeking a fight, but saying stop when necessary. If there is something we should not attack or question, it is the callings and ministries of other believers. Rom. 14:4: "Who are you to judge another's servant? He stands or falls before his own Lord. But he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." In this context, it is about not judging a believer's attitude towards food; it says that "each one should be fully convinced in his own mind." So it is about letting everything we say and do before the Lord, be in faith: "whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Col. 3:17).
Many are so sure of things they should not trumpet as "truth," especially regarding the lives and ministry of others. This is not about care, reproof to correct lukewarmness or sin in fellow brothers and sisters, which we should do in love and in the Holy Spirit, but about sitting in judgment of others' ministry before God. For some, it seems as if their self-esteem and identity are dependent on titles and positions; their entire existence is threatened by everything that does not affirm or agree. Where did the "identity in Christ" go? The ministry before the Lord is not about us, me, or "my" church. It is about the kingdom of God, the salvation of the people, and preservation in it, that is, everything "church" is about. When I step to the pulpit or on a square to preach, the dependence on the Holy Spirit is total, and I "die" to myself every time to release the Resurrection power of Christ. And I let only Jesus and His word appear, not me, my title, or position, or even "my" congregation. And the heart's aim is focused on the salvation of souls, people's need for Jesus.
Once I preached in front of 8,000 in Pakistan, another time at the beginning of ministry, I preached in a sermon, only one person came, and he fell asleep, maybe he got peace and could sleep. But both times I preached with equal seriousness, all the way, and I believe the Lord valued the efforts equally. It was not about me, but about the mission and the needs of people. I do not tremble about "failing" in preaching for my own sake, to keep the "reputation" polished, and to be liked by everyone. If you have served the Lord for decades "for real", then you have burned bridges where it was needed, and the Lord has constantly paved new blessed paths. I tremble about not being obedient to the Mission! What the Lord has planted deep into my heart to do.
Furthermore, love is not refusing to speak the truth or necessary facts when the Holy Spirit "really" leads. However, today love is cooling so noticeably because many are not filled with the Holy Spirit and are not as led by the Spirit as one would think, in everything one says and does. There is therefore also a chaotic confusion in the Christian ranks, one says this, another says that, and no one really knows "What does the Lord say." Perhaps He does not say anything at all, but waits patiently until the last moment for all of our hearts to humble themselves, allow the old Adamic nature to be crucified, dead and buried, to open our hearts to Jesus for real and to be filled with the Holy Spirit as the word says, then the Light comes and disperses the darkness, then God's will and way are revealed, in everything and through everything. And we can love each other as God wants, neither in a fallen compromise nor in a distorted zeal for truth, but in the Holy Spirit. Of course, I conclude with a recommendation to read 1 Corinthians 13, amen.
