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#love

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Matthew 5:44 KJV

Yet many well-meaning Christians have failed to grasp how the postmodern ethos has infected (to the point of destruction) their own understanding of Christ’s command to “Love your neighbor.” In our hyper-subjective age, this command is emptied of all objective content. The result is that some cannot even conceive of a situation in which a Christian could fulfill this command in such a way that a neighbor who is loved according to God’s standards might not feel loved according to his own.

We’re Commanded to Love Our Neighbors, Not to Make Them Feel Loved

A warning I give to so many Christians is to mind definitions. We say one thing and say it from the foundational truths of Scripture— and thus the foundational truths of all Creation— and the world says the same exact thing but means something in complete contradiction. If you haven’t seen the effects yet, give it another year or two.

Words must have meaning. If God sets the definition, that is the definition.

All who think this way have fallen for the poisonous lie that hurt feelings, per se, are sufficient proof that you have failed to love your neighbor. Yet if that is so, we make Christ himself out to be a sinner! […] Indeed, Jesus was not murdered because he was too nice but because he did and said things that caused some to despise him—yet in all this he was “without sin” (Heb. 4:15 ; cf. 1 Pet. 2:22 ; 1 John 3:5).

[…]

Even so, the idea that we are commanded to make our neighbor “feel loved” is ultimately a form of relativism in Christian drag, a kind of sentimentality that holds to the form of godliness—“love your neighbor!”—while denying its true power.

[…]

If feelings are the standard, then there is no standard. There also are no constraining limits. For if making someone “feel loved” is the requirement for being loving, there is no end to what darkened hearts may demand in order to feel sufficiently loved. This is, of course, precisely what is happening everywhere in the West.

If I do not feel loved, you are not loving your neighbor. Let’s put this differently, if you don’t use my pronouns, you are being hateful and bigoted. If you don’t support marriage between these two people, it’s because you hate them. If you don’t let me teach your kids about sex and gender, you hate me.

These are lies to manipulate Christians that are not ready for the bait and switch on the word “love”. It’s a powerful play, really.

They have turned Christ’s command to love our neighbors—along with the many biblical commands to be compassionate and kind—into a blank check for the world to cash.

Christian, you say you love your neighbor? Well to love me you must do jumping jacks for three hours straight. Anything else is abject hatred. It’s one thing when the request is that we work out, but when they ask you to lie or bear false witness? To worship their idols instead of Christ? Love is not theirs to define.

Am I seeking the approval of my neighbor or of God? For if I were still trying to please my neighbor, I would not be a servant of Christ (cf. Gal. 1:10).

I have remained silent for the last week on the matters in Charlottesville. This was a choice, not a lack of concern, a lack of thoughts, or a mistake. I broke that silence last night. I have words. This is for the Christians. Not that this is not relevant for everyone, but this is for the Christians.

Church.

We need to condemn racist language, thoughts, and actions with the strongest words within our walls. Within the Blood, we cannot allow these ideologies. Not white power. Not black power. Not any race above any other. Let me make this clear. This is not welcome in the Church. It is heresy. Elders, this is your job. Come alongside those that speak or think these ideologies and correct them. Church discipline is needed here.

We are all of the bloodline of Adam. Every one of us. We are all of the bloodline of Noah. Every single one. Jesus died to cover the sins of the bloodline of Noah and Adam. That includes everyone. Racism has no place in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. None.

Brothers and Sisters.

The world is not covered in the Blood. Your enemy may not know Jesus. But you do. When you were yet a sinner, Jesus came and died for you. You were worse than a filthy rag. You were the worst of the worst. Jesus had no reasonable reason to love you, yet he did. That is what we are called to, brothers and sisters. Love. Love without rhyme or reason.

In the last week I have seen many of you advocating for violence against both sides. I get it. Antifa has done horrible, violent things. The alt-right has done the same. Vengeance is not yours, though. Let the law punish those that break it. No matter if you advocate for violence against those that commit violence or those that offend with words, you are wrong. You are. You are no better than the fascists and the communists last weekend.

Except you should know better.

Here is my advice. The only thing that can eradicate this present darkness is the Light. So let it come out into the light. This is an extreme minority. It serves no threat. So let them speak. Evil has a way of looking uglier when light is shined on it. But love the people. We are called to love the oppressed. Both of these groups feel oppressed. Whether they are right or wrong, show them love. Walk them to Jesus. You punch them, and you will not be serving Christ, but yourself.

Christian. The world is watching for your response. Don’t respond like the world.

If beating you with a leather strap until you cry is what gives him pleasure and he asks you to do it despite your distress because it turns him on and then plays the victim to explain it all away, there is no soundtrack in the world that should quiet the voice in your head that yells out that love and romance were never in the picture and they never will be.

A Letter to My Children About Fifty Shades of Grey

Spot on. This is not romance. It is abuse.

Please, my precious children, know this: Love is gentle. Love never takes. Love does not demand. Love waits for consent. Love doesn’t need helicopter rides and expensive gifts. Love is enough.