Do You Love Your Neighbor?

The logo for this article is taken from a web site I sometimes frequent called Christian Church Today. I have it as one of the links listed on this site. When I found this site I was researching graduate schools over 2 years ago. I would look at the site initially every 3 days or so because they also have ministry listings and at the time I was in a tough situation with my former Church. I began to notice over time that the site had a forum section on it and all you had to do to participate was to sign up for membership. I first began just reading through the threads for a long period of time and eventually got the nerve to begin to post. I hesitated to post because while it is a Christian site I noticed that people could sometimes take theological debates and get a bit ugly with one another. Eventually I began to post and met some good Christians and experienced some decent online fellowship. I have even had some trouble with a few people just getting a bit nasty from time to time. Some of those who I have become fond of on the site have been harassed by a few rotten apples who like to come on to that site and create problems for everyone. I suppose in many ways a Christian website reminds me of the Church.

Of course all of this bickering on the website did calm down a bit through July because the website went off-line for a while and when it came back up the forum section was still undergoing maintenance. This past week the forum section was running again, but many have deserted this site for a better time of fellowship at a different location. I was among those who choose to fellowship at the other, but will continue to visit and perhaps even post at Christian Church Today. This type of bickering and frustration has always been in the Church since it started (see Acts) and it will unfortunately always be around. Paul wrote to Timothy and said that "in the last days the love of many will grow cold!" The last days started at Pentecost when Peter preached a powerful sermon and some 3,000+ were saved. We don't have to look very far today to see that there is a love problem, even within the walls of the Church building. This for me is the most frustrating aspect of the Christian life. The lack of love among God's people with each other and apart from each other. We need to learn to love as Jesus loved! We need to learn to extend grace as Jesus extended grace! I think part of the problem is our ego-centric thinking that we cling to everyday. We are being formed and shaped to be a community that loves each other and God.

I recently made a comment in the Church about someone who I think has potential for greater leadership responsibilities. When I mentioned this openly someone pointed out that the person mentioned has had some problems with their life. They were referring to the persons past sins. Isn't that incredible? Jesus can forgive us and wash us clean yet we like to point out the problems of others so easily. This is not what Christ died for! He died for the ungodly and the sinner. That is who I am! That is who you are!

While Christian Church Today website was closed for most of this month I began to frequent other Christian websites and blogs more than usual. I saw a lot of finger pointing by Christians toward other Christians. I read how each denomination has it right and how the other ones are all wrong. One of the days of this I experienced depression and headaches. This is not what Jesus suffered for. He suffered so that His people could have an abundant life. Jesus said the 2 Greatest Commandments were loving God with every aspect of you being and loving your neighbor as yourself. When the Church starts to learn the first one it will not have a problem with the latter. No matter what denomination you are in you are commanded to love your neighbor! If they bear fruit for the Kingdom they are your neighbor. When we learn to love we will learn to move forward with God into a greater spiritual depth. Everyday God gives me the choice to be a Christian who loves.