Sunday, March 31, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Love as Truth
First, some scripture:
“Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in
truth and action”
-
1 John 3:18
This verse has spoken to me significantly over the last few
months of my life. It is profound in that it moves your heart in ways that you
don’t always understand.
It is truth; and as children of God, truth speaks to us.
For me, this verse helped me realize that I had been leading
a superficial life as a Christian. I was loving people on the surface in order
to make myself feel better. I would dishonestly say that I loved everyone, that
I had a place in my heart for all of creation.
But that love stopped at thoughts and at words. It never
formed as something greater than the words “I love you.”
This is my problem. This is our problem.
We far too often think that love can be love simply if we
think it is love. Thought is certainly a good place to start, but it’s the
worst place to end.
The dictionary is the only place where love should be
described by words. I could try to describe love for you, telling you that it
is compassionate, unconditional, generous, forgiving, righteous and just. But
where has that gotten you and I?
If I say that I love you, yet I never do anything for you,
is that really love?
Christ loved with his actions. Christ loved to the point
where his life was sacrificed for us. Christ served humanity. Christ serves
humanity. Christ truly loves.
So where does this leave us?
It should leave us with conviction. It should leave us with
a challenge. We are called to love the entirety of humanity. Humanity calls out
to be loved, and we must answer that call with enthusiastic action. It is not
enough to answer the call by saying that we love humanity. We must show this
love.
I am not suggesting that you save the world. I am not asking
you to be the hero for all of humanity. Good can come from the smallest
expressions of love. Start with a smile. Hold a door open for someone. Offer to
pay for a stranger’s meal. Talk to someone who has no one to talk to. Do
something for someone. It’s that simple.
Now ask yourself, how many people have you truly loved?
How many people have you failed to love?
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Stand Up
If you aren’t willing to stand up for everyone, you can’t
stand up for anyone.
If your love is limited to certain people and not others, if it is conditionally based on the person you are choosing to love or not love, if it is not broad, then is it really, truly love?
I have been thinking about that statement a lot recently. I
have been doing a lot of theological reflection lately, trying to flesh out my
own theology and convictions, and this statement became a focal point of my
thoughts.
If you couldn’t wrap your head around that, or don’t
understand what I mean by it, let me explain.
Essentially what I am saying is that if you aren’t willing
to stand up for everyone who is oppressed, then you can’t truly stand up for
any oppressed person.
Here is an example – if you stand up for African-American
rights, but not for the rights of women, then are you truly able to stand up
for African Americans? One of the first problems becomes what happens when you
encounter an African-American female. Will you stand up against those
oppressing her for being black, but not against those who oppress her for being
a woman? If that is the case then you are simultaneously trying to stand up for
her and oppress her. That can’t work.
The other issue is that if you stand up for one group of
oppressed people but not another, then you are an oppressor by definition. To
me, there is no grey area in the realm of oppression. You are either standing
up for the oppressed or taking part in the system that oppresses them. There is
no in between.
By not standing up for an oppressed person you are by
default oppressing them. Silence is a form of oppression. Gandhi once said that
choosing not to speak is choosing to speak and choosing not to act is choosing
to act. If you hear someone make a racist joke and stay silent, you are taking
part in that form of oppression. You are just as much of an oppressor as the
person making the joke because you are allowing that person to oppress others.
Again, there is no grey area. You either oppress or you stand
up for the oppressed. You have to choose a side.
Let’s bring this back to the initial statement – if you aren’t
willing to stand up for everyone, you can’t stand up for anyone.
You must be willing to stand up for every oppressed person
in order to break the system of oppression. If you stay silent with even one
person, you have become a part of systematic oppression and that fact alone limits
your ability to truly stand up for anyone.
In a similar vein, what if I said that if you aren’t willing
to love everyone, you can’t truly love anyone?
If your love is limited to certain people and not others, if it is conditionally based on the person you are choosing to love or not love, if it is not broad, then is it really, truly love?
I truly believe that our love is meant for everyone, and if
we limit this love then we are not using love in the way it was meant to be
used. In the same way, I believe that we are meant to stand up for everyone who
is oppressed. So if we only choose to stand up for certain people, then we are
not using our ability to help people in the way we were meant to do.
That is the problem.
So now I say more confidently – if you aren’t willing to
stand up for everyone, you can’t stand up for anyone.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)