Loving One Another Is Hard To Do

     In this week's gospel reading, Jesus gave us a new commandment: "Love one another."  He went on to say, "This is how all will know you for my disciples: your love for one another."

     Based on the behavior of many people in the church, however, it's safe to say that the outside world often has no clue that we are disciples of Jesus.  If we do have any love for each other, we're capable of hiding it rather well.

     Our church board meetings can be more like negotiating sessions between the Teamsters union and corporate management, complete with table-pounding threats and accusations.

     Our after-church coffee hours can be more like an employee lounge during morning break, filled with gossip, slander, politicking, and back-biting.

     Our pot luck suppers can be more like Beef n' Brew Night at O'Malley's Tavern, including lewd and crude outbursts and side-swiped guard rails on the way home.

     Our church parking lots can be more like the interstate highway during rush hour, teeming with clenched jaws, rude invectives, and the world-famous "We're number one," hand gesture.

     The people who belong to Christ were given one important job and one helpful suggestion by the Lord.  The job is called the Great Commission, where Jesus said: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations...teaching them to observe what I have commanded you."

     And the helpful hint Jesus gave to make us more effective in doing this job was his command to love one another.  The idea is that when non-believers see Christians treating each other with the dignity and respect and love which is so rare out in the everyday world, they'll be drawn in, first out of curiosity, but then out of a desire to experience that peace and love.

     Of course, Jesus did not give us this helpful hint only to make us better salesmen for the kingdom of God.  ("And if you act now, we'll throw in a complete set of Ginsu knifes!  A $29.95 value, yours free for joining the Jesus Club!  Operators are standing by to take your order!!")

     Jesus commanded us to love one another for two major reasons.  First, it is the true source of peace and serenity in this less than peaceful and less than serene world of ours. Everybody knows someone so consumed by the world's definition of success, as a result it has made him or her downright miserable. (Maybe this person stares at you from the mirror each morning?)

     The materialistic, power-hungry, self-centered rat race is a grueling marathon.  Because the rewards are so fleeting, even the winners of this race wind up losers in the end.  Only by denying our selfish impulses and showing true love for others will we ever find real peace and happiness.

     The other reason Jesus gave us this command is because it is the exact way he acted toward us.  He said, "Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for each other."  He modeled perfect love when he gave his life as a ransom for our sins.  His love is the ideal expression toward which we must strive.

     Now, obviously, not everyone in the church is a self-centered immoral weasel, indistinguishable from, say, Charles Manson or, even worse, the people currently running for president.

     Don't get me wrong.  I'm convinced that one of the last things keeping our chaotic society from completely unraveling is the fact that many nameless saints all over this country still base their lives on God's unchanging definition of right and wrong.

     But in the eyes of many people outside the Christian family, we often appear no different than unbelievers.  When folks read in the paper about all the lawsuits, sex crimes, and financial shenanigans; when they hear bigoted profanity spewing from a person wearing a crucifix; when they get the "fish and fowl" treatment on the highway (having someone flip you the bird from a car adorned with the Christian fish symbol); there is no way that they are going to be drawn toward Jesus.

     In this week's gospel reading, Jesus makes it clear that he expects us to be different.  In fact, he wants our behavior to be so radical and bizarre that other people will actually stop and stare.  Jesus insists that we love the unlovable, pray for our enemies, give our precious "stuff" away to strangers, and most difficult of all, love one another. 

     And just maybe, some of the people who stop and stare--and wonder how we can be so peaceful and loving--will be introduced to him who is perfect love.