Radical Love

Have you ever had someone so wrecked by continual disappointment that they can't receive anything good. They've been hurt so many times that they themselves often ruin any attempt at someone loving them. They'll push away before they can be hurt again. 

When we live in such a hostile environment, as this world can be, we often become so use to pain that goodness and love are foreign concepts and avoided. The gift God has provided us in forgiveness, redemption and justification is often rejected because of our inability to trust. 

So how do we build trust in someone that has no trust. Firstly, we must rid our ownselves of any possible way of harming them further. Our lives must be full of Christ and empty of self. Those that are hurt have accute senses when it comes to authenticity. They can read right through anyone that is not genuinely full of love. So, to help we must be helped first.

My frustration is this, I can see a world that walks in God's Spirit and Truth and I can see a world that is completely changed where no one is hurt by another. I can see this vision of love enveloping the Earth yet I cannot see how we get there. Billions of people use billions of other people daily to make themselves feel superior, more powerful or better than others so the challenge is grim. 

Only by God's Spirit can it be done and we who submit to Him through faith will have His Spirit to overcome the world with love. It seems like such a big task and when we try to imagine us doing it through our own understanding instead of His, well it is impossible. 

The world has tried to cooperate tentatively for decades now but it's tenuous at best. Constant saber rattling, threats, invasions and rumors of wars are always lingering. 

Then you have a lot of Christians begging for Jesus to come back to judge those that are evil yet they forget they will be judged as well. They're running into what they don't understand. It's because they think they are covered by His blood but the blood isn't a blanket of protection. The blood was for redemption and justification, to redeem us or to justify us before God. The blood never made us righteous, our faith in God to order our steps does that. Walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh makes us righteous. Even then, do we hide our righteousness from the world and keep it for ourselves, no. A light is made to shine and to give light to others instead of being kept for yourself. That's why in the parable of the talents the servant that got the one talent from his master was beaten for burying it and not investing it. The investment comes when we share the light in us with others.

The reason we sit in our quiet little corner of the world and pray for blessings is because we do not have a proper relationship with God. How can we prove to the world that God loves them if we hide Him and keep Him for ourselves.

The world needs us, those that don't trust love need us. They need to be shown just what love is and that it can be trusted, confided in and filled with. Comfort is self and if we live comfortably and never step out into the world to show them His love then we have failed. It doesn't take a loud speaker or megaphone on a street corner preaching to people to show them God. Often times people are turned off by that because words are empty without actions backing them up. Someone could sit and preach all day in the sun to crowds on the street but then go home and watch porn or do drugs or even smack his wife around. If we are going to reach people, we have to have a radical love for them. 

What is radical love? It's something beyond what you do already. It's something that creates discomfort to you in the beginning. It's buying someone's groceries at the store, it's giving an unusually large tip, it's buying a homeless person things they need, it's a ton of different things beyond the simple smile or holding a door open for someone. Radical love changes hearts and tears down walls. It can reach the most darkest of hearts. All we need to do is submit to God's radical love then He will make us that way too. 

Instead of people being a burden we will be burdened for them. Instead of avoiding them, we will be interacting with them. Walk over to someone at a gas station and tell them you'll buy their gas today. If they ask why your doing that for them, just say God loves you and He wanted to bless you. If you do anything though, make sure your doing it for God and not self. Don't do it to be seen or recognized or for the thanks. Just do it out of love.

If the churches emptied the pews each Sunday and went out to the neighborhoods to mow a widows yard or to rake an elderly mans yard or to build a ramp for a person in a wheelchair or to shuttle someone to work or to the grocery store, then we could make a huge impact in their lives. Instead of buying a million dollar building, meet at houses for the new people but have those mature Christians take to the streets to help. If our churches were full of selfless people then maybe this idealistic dream of mine would come true. Unfortunately, the church is full of self centered and self absorbed people who want to claim the name of Jesus but don't want to live like He did. 

Sorry for the harshness but truth is truth. We cannot sit idle on our hands and do nothing for this dying world. We're more worried about the presidential election and one mans policies than we are about our own policies with God. We're more worried about the government coming to take our guns than laying our life down for our neighbor. Why do Christians have guns anyway, Jesus told Peter if you live by the sword you'll die by the sword. We as Christians should be passivists but instead I hear statements like, if they come through that door, I'll blast them back out or if they mess with me, I'll send them to God and let Him worry about it. What!! Did we ever see Jesus using violence as a means to settle a problem. No and neither should we. 

I've heard it before too, if someone broke into your house what would you do. Well, personally I'd give them anything they wanted. If you stop trying to stop them and actually help them steal your stuff, think of the impact you'd have on their heart. Especially if you said God loves you while you were handing them your TV. Now that's radical love my friend. It takes that kind of thinking to change the world. 

What if an army, instead of being met by resistance, was met by hot food and shelter. What if  an army marched in to take over a city and a celebration met them instead of gun fire. What if they saw such a radical show of love that they refused their orders and marched back to their country, with gift baskets and plenty of water and food for the journey. Can radical thoughts like this and radical actions like this change the world, sure, but are we too self centered to do it, also true. See the issue. 

How can we reach the most hardest of hearts, with the most radical of love possible.

To God be the Glory!