A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, so also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35
I want to ask you, when was the last time you heard someone in the kingdom be honored or recognized for something other than the power they walk in, the miracles they do, the revelation they have, or the gifts of the spirit they operate in? Think for a minute about all the people you have read a “spiritual resume” on, you know, the list of things that are printed about someone to encourage you to want to come hear them speak (no offense intended, just trying to make a point), or the things said about someone as a means of honoring them. Yes, we are to render honor to whom honor is due, I get that, and for the most part based on what is written or said we assume it is motivated by the love of God that a person walks in. But lately I have been wondering if perhaps we might be making some wrong assumptions some of the time.
I want to ask you, when was the last time you heard someone in the kingdom be honored or recognized for something other than the power they walk in, the miracles they do, the revelation they have, or the gifts of the spirit they operate in? Think for a minute about all the people you have read a “spiritual resume” on, you know, the list of things that are printed about someone to encourage you to want to come hear them speak (no offense intended, just trying to make a point), or the things said about someone as a means of honoring them. Yes, we are to render honor to whom honor is due, I get that, and for the most part based on what is written or said we assume it is motivated by the love of God that a person walks in. But lately I have been wondering if perhaps we might be making some wrong assumptions some of the time.
As unintentional as it might be, I find in mainstream Christianity a picture being painted of what is “successful” that falls far short of the picture Jesus painted for us. On the one hand we have a picture of what dying to ourselves looks like and on the other hand a picture of what “kingdom” life looks like but it seems that the two are in opposition to each other. I don’t find either of them putting much emphasis on the nature or character of Christ and the love of God that is produced as a result of having the former. Has any of this crossed your mind? Have you like me found yourself a bit confused at times wondering if your life measures up to the pictures being painted by some of the more visible “movers and shakers” of the “kingdom”.
The picture of dying to ourselves has become more about portraying a false humility we don’t possess while simultaneously portraying ourselves as being kingdom minded by appearing like we are living the abundant life Jesus promised...which sad to say has been reduced to how financially prosperous we have become, which by the way is diametrically opposed to the “I’m dying to myself” picture.
Jesus said, "no kingdom divided against itself will stand". Is it any wonder we find ourselves a little confused sometimes, or is it just me? One extreme is to live like we are poor by not living in too nice of a house or driving too nice a car and fasting one day a week to prove our “humility” while it’s nothing more than being a modern day Pharisee. Or the other extreme of measuring our success in the kingdom by seeing how big of a house we can have and how expensive of a car we can drive. I have been guilty of both or I wouldn’t be writing about it in the first place. So I am not pointing any fingers. I am afraid that a lot of people are confused about what really matters to God.
Jesus said, "no kingdom divided against itself will stand". Is it any wonder we find ourselves a little confused sometimes, or is it just me? One extreme is to live like we are poor by not living in too nice of a house or driving too nice a car and fasting one day a week to prove our “humility” while it’s nothing more than being a modern day Pharisee. Or the other extreme of measuring our success in the kingdom by seeing how big of a house we can have and how expensive of a car we can drive. I have been guilty of both or I wouldn’t be writing about it in the first place. So I am not pointing any fingers. I am afraid that a lot of people are confused about what really matters to God.
We live in a time where there are more conferences, more meetings, more teachings, and revelation, not to mention all the access to Christian TV than any other time in the history of the church and yet it seems like we are impacting society less and less. Why is that? Maybe we embrace all of the above to prove that we really are spiritual, but all the while I hear the Father asking,” Where is the love? Where is the love in all that we are about doing to demonstrate we belong to Him?
The bottom line is that the kingdom of God is about faith expressing itself through love. No amount of false humility, no measure of financial success or power displayed at a conference, or time served at the church will ever replace the measure of love the Father sees in our daily lives by the way we treat those closest to us, or the way we interact with strangers put across our path day to day. No matter what we do or don’t do, if we do not have love we are nothing.
I don’t know about you, but when I measure myself based on what God says love is in 1 Corinthians 13 I shamefully admit I fall far short. Loving as God loves will cost us everything because it cost Him everything. Maybe that is what I am really afraid of. Could it be that in some measure that is what we are all afraid of and as well, equally afraid to admit? The truest picture of both dying to self and being successful is living a life of love, it is also the truest representation of Christ I know.
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