The Right Here and Now Sort of Love

First and foremost, Love came and still resides.

Among my Christian friends and the various churches I’ve attended or visited in the past few years, I’ve heard a phrase – more specifically, a verse – used with an increasing frequency among believers. While I enjoy the passage, I think many of us are reading it unhealthily, to the point that what was written to teach us more about who we are, has caused many of us to believe in who we are not. As Inigo Montoya’s from The Princess Bride would say, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means,”

Here’s the verse,

“We love because God first loved us,” – 1 John 4:19

Where I believe we have identified ourselves wrongly concerning this verse, is in that we see these words as an excuse to not take initiative in showing compassion towards others because we tell ourselves that we haven’t experienced enough love for ourselves yet. While I would never downplay the significance or power of someone’s experience, I believe this verse is talking about something very different.

To expound, the passage above is highlighting our Divine-enablement, but to many of us, I’m afraid, it has painted the picture of a Divine-withholding because we think there needs to be a Paul-blinded-and-thrown-on-his-back sort of encounter with God before intentionality in expressing love can begin. We see ourselves on the wrong side of Love’s expression, and so we give ourselves the excuse of waiting for God’s love in our lives before we can begin showing it to others; while love, in like-manner, is waiting to simply be shown through us because its’ greatest manifestation has already been shown. The perfect example of love has been shown, as John points out only a few verses earlier,

“Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. And God showed his love for us by sending his Son into the world, so that we might have life through Him,” 1 John 4:8-9

We have turned the mission of love into our waiting for love to still be shown to us. We have taken our commission and said that others should fulfill that commission towards us before we can take it on ourselves. The problem with this is that there will always be the need of an experience to determine how loving any of us will be. Our love has become dependent on how we perceive our social experiences. But the passage is not talking about personal feelings of love – it is talking about a belief in the gospel itself; a belief that we have been loved and cherished all along and that Christ came to forever stamp that Truth on the gears of our hearts.

Compassion’s greatest expression has been expressed, and the Gospel resonates and becomes relevant to us when we believe the existence and ramifications of that love.

As I’ve often heard it said: love looks like something. It is not a mystical word to describe the butterflies we receive when people treat us with care; love certainly can arouse those feelings, but much more than the feelings it can produce, love is an action. Compassion is tangible and visible; it is intentional and holds incredible endurance with that intention. And of course our love can and will grow by our experiences and understanding – that goes without saying – but the enabling that love provides is not a magical gift that we are still waiting to arrive like a knock at our front door. Love already kicked in the door at the cross!

“For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose.” Romans 5:6

And Paul emphasizes it again,

 “God has shown us how much he loved us – it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!” – Romans 5:8

We have already been painted the picture of enduring and unconditional love. It is a love that pursues relentlessly, and would give anything – even to those who hate or show indifference to the expresser. Love came before anyone knew to ask for it, and it came loudly! Believing God’s love for us empowers and enables us to show true love to others. We do not need to wait for the stars to align, but are already free and invited to begin seeing and treating people different today; right here and right now.

A Personal Gospel

I have been a friendly person all my life. I always knew to hold doors for others and to say “Thank you,” when someone helped me, but as frequently as kindness and love are attributed as synonymous to one another, I can personally attest that they are not. Kindness without love is certainly achievable and comes with the same consequence as any other personality in search of an identity: what that person does and who others perceive him or her to be becomes that person’s face and self, their significance is shaped by ideas and agendas set for making a particular name for one’s self.

Even in my most selfish year, and the year that I was most hurting, I won Most Conscientious for my class at school. I was a friendly person that year; I was every year. But my friendliness had little to do with honest love and much more to do with the name I had come to identify myself with, the name I needed to uphold to still think I knew who I was.

But four and a half years ago, when I first caught a glimpse of the selflessness of God’s love, everything began to change. I found my identity in His love. As powerfully and unconditionally as I saw His love for me to be, the scandalous idea that I was made in God’s image began to sink in and take on a radical new meaning. My arduous search for self was coming to a close, because I saw that I was already been found and known.

The same compassion that drew me was now becoming me.

The same selflessness that kept me in God’s arms was quickly being revealed as my identity and destiny.

Since this began, I haven’t been able to see anyone the same. I am still friendly, but it is no longer my mask. I am not kind so that you will accept me; I am kind because I have already accepted you. And as I grow deeper and deeper in my understanding of what it means to be made in Love’s image, I watch the conditions of my compassion fading quickly away into nothingness. My fears are dissolving. My selfish agendas are becoming hard to find, even for myself. Bad days are very hard to come by, anymore, and this joy has nothing to do with better or worse circumstances.

And none of this is to brag, but to celebrate because the Gospel is much better than I ever imagined or anyone ever told me. The good news is freedom from the agony, weight and stress of selfish living. The good news is an acceptance and a happiness that can never be stolen. It all means that this world’s Maker has become my best friend, but He has seen me as a friend all along – even when I only sought Him for selfish gain or ignored Him completely.

What can the world do to someone that has died to himself? The image every person spends their life chasing down and striving for was given to us freely, but it is only found when we give up searching, striving and digging. We trade all our efforts for a simple trust in the faithfulness of the God who knew who we were long before we ever forgot. He remembered our true selves even at the height of our rebellion against His goodness.

And what was this rebellion?

To me, it was believing that I could live and function independent of an omniscient and life-giving Creator. It was to live as if I was trying to get away with something behind His back – to become something that my own Creator did not design me to fulfill. But when I saw the speed and endurance Love had as it chased me down, I finally relented my efforts.

And to relent was my repentance; God’s goodness changed my mind.

Love has taken me like a river. Why would I ever swim upstream again, now that I know its course was everything I was created to follow? My life can never be the same again, because this Gospel is a personal one.

Aggressive Compassion

Love doesn’t always look as we might expect it to. We often make it comparable to kindness or politeness, but in these mindsets we should never lose sight of love’s aggression, steadfastness and power. Jesus was the visible image of the invisible God, and so in his actions, we should be able to see love (1 John 4:8) in every story, action and word that Jesus spoke to the people of his day. At times this looked as we might expect love to appear, with tenderness and merciful actions. And love does look that way, many times. But in seeing love for its tenderness, remember that Jesus’ love showed of equal vibrancy as he cracked his whip and flipped tables in the synagogue for the justice that would come of it. Compassion never left him. Jesus embodied love in everything that he did.

Jesus was not passive. He was bold and steadfast, unshaken by chaos, darkness and all forms of evil. He had an incredible compassion for people and an unhindered aggression against the injustices that tormented those he so loved. Demons feared this man from Galilee; hypocrisy couldn’t stand to be near him because Jesus saw through every mask and called out the falsehood.

His war was not against people. Jesus came to crush the head of the enemy who bound us (Gen 3:15); and crush him, he did.

He saved us singlehandedly. While you were once identified as a slave to the evils of this world, Jesus re-identified you to the side of freedom, power and victory, so that you could live your created potential, no longer lost and blind by the distance of your mind to God. When you were once held captive and living as a victim to take every punch that your slave master could throw, Jesus stole the weapons of the enemy and empowered you to spend the rest of your life with the ball in your court – and he has established an aggressive offence.

Jesus put you on the side of eternal living, and in a war against Death that means you’ve already won!

Despite how powerful we have become in Christ, many Christians still live on defense. They are taught to fear the enemy and call it wisdom and humility. But wisdom is to live in the powerful grace we have been given and humility is to realize how incredible and favored you are BECAUSE of who you’re united with. I would never say this to condemn anyone, but to equip everyone to live in the power and authority that Christ called us to. We were not created to hide away and fearfully pray that darkness doesn’t find its way to us. We were called to dive headfirst against darkness, and if Jesus rightfully called us the ‘light of the world’, then darkness ought not to be there when we show up. Light will triumph over darkness every time.

I’m inspired by Jesus’ words to Peter at the end of John,

After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.” A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” A third time Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” and so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep. I am telling you the truth: when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you where you don’t want to go,” (In saying this, Jesus was indicating the way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God.) Then Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”

Peter turned around and saw behind him that other disciple, whom Jesus loved… When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”

Jesus answered him, “If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” (John 21:15-22)

Jesus knew of Nero’s soon-to-come reign, and the inexpressible persecutions that first century Christians would endure in those years. And even Peter, to some extent, knew this was coming (Matthew 24). But Jesus didn’t tell Peter to hide and wait out the hardship, he told him to lead. ‘Follow me,’ he urged Peter: an invitation to follow Jesus’ life so closely as to physically die for the Kingdom of God, as he had.

Peter hears this and freaks out; points to John, ‘What about him?’

But Jesus wouldn’t play comparison, ‘Follow me!’ Imagine the power and love behind Jesus’ eyes as he said this to his dear friend – literally calling him to give everything to the point of physical death. In a time when it would be understood and suggested that someone hide away and keep safe, Jesus told Peter to be so bold in his faith, that his life would end in radical martyrdom.

A martyr is the fullest expression of passionate commitment to a cause. To die for your belief suggests that you have left the safety of those that think or act as you do and have gone loudly and aggressively into the world of a counter belief or culture. No one is martyred by their own people. Historical records tell us that Peter was martyred in Nero’s reign, and we know from other writings (including the Bible), that Peter was a strong leader in the church before his death. He fulfilled the call Jesus gave him to live aggressively for the Kingdom of God. Peter’s radical love for God and people became his death.

We are called to be love. And love is not synonymous to merely being nice – you can be kind to someone you hate and firm and aggressive towards those that you most care for. So I invite you to love aggressively when life calls for it. Do not be passive. Know that the same Jesus that looked passionately into Peter’s eyes as he asked him to forsake everything for his Kingdom is the same Jesus that lives and reigns today.

Stand against injustices. Hold those that have been abandoned. Never fear the outcome of compassion’s expression, because love doesn’t know how to fear (it’s selfless). We are in full union to the Savior that overcame the whole world; it’s time to stand for goodness, life and freedom.

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Ephesians 6:13

Preserve Your Art

“A storyteller’s mission is not to paint their reader a picture of an ocean, but to soak them and force their breath be held as a wave topples over their head. Storytelling is an art of immersion. It sees fruition through the audible laughter of a reader dazed by a novel, and the shedding of an actual tear as the pain of loss is experienced by brilliantly crafted words giving life to a story. When you lift your feet onto the couch for safety, you can no longer be associated as a mere audience member perceiving the details of that book. In your participation, you have embodied the life of that author’s frightened protagonist and made what was once fiction an experience and reality deeper than any back-cover could have given you warning.” – Facebook post I wrote earlier this week.

Writing stories has been in my heart a lot recently.  As typing plays such a large part of my daily life through blogging, editing various works and contributing to projects, I have found an increased importance in my life to being proactive about setting aside time to engage myself in simple story-telling.  Before my words became anything more, writing was a means of self-expression and so I always strive to appreciate writing, first and foremost, as an art.  Now don’t get me wrong, I find enjoyment in professionally writing for others that the world might be a more-easily-read place, but my goal with this blog is to emphasize the importance of separating tasks and agendas from the irreplaceable power of raw artistic communication.

Admittedly, I am by no means a musician and if I ever start lifting a paint brush to a canvas, please stop my hand before it ever touches the paper – it will be less embarrassing for both of us.  But despite my less-than-impressive talents in those (and many more) areas, I believe this same principle I use in writing remains relevant to any and every other form of creativity.  If you play piano three times a week for your local church, set aside time to play for the simple joy of running your fingers across those keys.  If you work graphic design, let your assertiveness be unpressured by taking time to create for the mere experience.  If you are a professional photographer, take pictures that you only allow yourself to view.

Creativity is empowering.  It is life-giving.  When we read that we were created “in the image of God,” we can appreciate the purposefulness behind artistic expression.  See the grass; trees; sky and even the form of your body – each of these are creations of your incredibly artistic Father.  And so the next time that you find yourself delving into the joys of creative expression, know that there is a proud Daddy smiling that you should follow His footsteps.

5 Tips To Being A Quick Learner

Just a few helpful tips as you continue to learn, grow and mature through life.     

1) Listen

Listening is not to be limited in definition as just a means of talking less; but is a proactive back-and-forth engagement that enables the person you are communicating with to take what he or she knows to a deeper or clearer place of understanding.  Put most simply, this can involve many “Why” questions or asking things to be explained in a new way so you know that you are fully grasping all that the person in front of you is trying to make clear.

Now, another key in listening comes from a willingness to admit that you don’t know something, or at least having an openness to consider being wrong about what you already believe or know.  There is a time to speak and let your knowledge be expressed, but be confident enough in what you have already learned that you are able to sit back and take in new ideas, thoughts and lessons without exercising your points through arguing and trying to prove yourself more right than the person in front of you.

2) Immerse Yourself In Newness

Need inspires growth. When we limit ourselves to interacting in the world of the familiar, the potential for what we are able to learn is greatly limited by the simple lack of newness, variance and options.  What I learned in 2 years of Spanish classes during high school doesn’t even compare the comprehension of Spanish I attained through a quarter of that amount of time living in a Spanish-speaking culture.  It is not that Spanish classes are without their benefit or place, but when we place ourselves in a ‘sink or swim’ scenario the outcome is likely to be just as radical as the situation that sparked your growth.

3) Engage

There is only so much you can learn from watching cooking shows or seeing YouTube tutorials when learning an instrument.  Eventually you need to pick up the guitar or put on the apron.  Taking a hands-on approach to learning is to engage something in the fullest extent and take the driver’s seat to put knowledge, muscle or timing to the test of your abilities.  Hands-on learning is amazing in that you learn whether you succeed or fail.  Before Thomas Edison created the first successful light bulb, he put his humility and persistence in learning to famous words when he said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

4) Get Multiple (Differing) Opinions

Similar to immersing one’s self in newness, having an open-enough mind to familiarize yourself in the thoughts and opinions of differing teachers is a remarkable way to become educated on a topic.  The broader understanding that you have of a subject, the greater you will be able to articulate what you know.  And, in every case and subject, there is never one person that has all of the answers, and even if someone is very accurate, it does not mean they have grasped the entire picture.  Comparing notes and allowing other’s questions or arguments to inspire the pursuit of answers opens the opportunity to dig deeper than you ever could have gone had you stuck to one stance, opinion or study.

5) Read (Even More Than Your Mother Told You To)

This is the point that you have heard your entire life – but this common-heard method for learning is one that deserves such a frequent reminder.  Reading is a means of immersing one’s self in stories, teachings and opinions without interruption.  As you read, aside from the expected details that you pick up by the overall concept or tale of a book or blog, your mind is growing in other, often more subtle ways such as communication, writing and you ability to construct new and creative ideas.

(Kudos to you for reading this blog, by the way).

What have been your greatest strategies for learning?

You Are Beautiful

There are so many times and places that the world shouts or subliminally implies a lack in the quality, purpose or beauty that each of us holds.  But in light of this common-placed atrocity, and specifically inspired by Josh Noom’s masterful artwork at Surf Expo this past weekend, I hope that the following words sink deeper than what any person or product has ever deceived you into believing; because every lie that has filtered into the vantage-point you hold as you peer through the mirror has no future but to bow to the truth of who you are and who you were created to be.  And YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL inside and out. 

 

 

I write as the brother wishing his sister to see the beauty that is so apparent to him, “You are far prettier than you see!”

 

 

I write as the father assuring his children that the quarks and talents they are embarrassed to showoff are the same defining attributes that he takes pride in knowing are his children’s very own, “You have nothing to be ashamed of!”

 

 

I write as the teacher seeing the brilliance in a student while he struggles to learn in school, “These tests do not define the strength of your mind!”   

 

 

I write as the innocent child knowing that the broken and hurt around him are as loved as he is, “Of course God loves you – He is your daddy and you are His kid!”

 

 

And finally, I write as myself, remembering how easy it can be to let the circumstances, judgments of others and normalcies of the world define how I view my worth, “There is a truth deeper than how you feel or how well you meet what is momentarily styling or status-quo! Your past does not define your worth or potential!” 

 

 

Many people from various religions will say that God is a masterful artist or creator, and I have only to add that when comparing artist for artist, Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa stands nothing in comparison to the wonder and intricacy of all that God has created you to be.  He is the world’s greatest creator, and you are His most prized and impressive creation.  And so the next time that you find yourself deeply searching the glass of your mirror for purpose and a measure of worth, I want you to smile and remember that YOU are the prize that Christ overcame the world to know and it is YOU that He has chosen to eternally embrace.   

Faith Beyond Your Experience

One of the greatest expressions of love is found in our willingness to trust God’s voice and involvement in another person’s life more than our own experience and understanding.  Consider this question, “If someone encounters God in a way that I have never seen or heard of, am I willing to be at peace in my own ways of thinking long enough to appreciate the work God may be doing in and through this other person?”

 

When David told his community that he would take on Goliath, there were very few people that believed in what God was telling him to do (including his own family).  YES, there was an obvious danger and YES, experience and logic would demand a child lose in the battle against a skilled warrior – but there was something greater than any of these factors that loomed over David in his fight: God had instructed David to take a stand.  When He stood, every factor bowed to David’s faith as it was manifest through the obedience to God’s voice. 

 

Many corrections, suggestions and warnings are given from a good heart.  It is commonly expressed through a person that desires to see another individual succeed or avoid harm, but in the same way that open-mindedness is required for those making decisions, the same trust and willingness to discern and listen ought to be shown through the people giving advice.  Experience and knowledge can be incredible gifts and I strongly encourage teaching and the sharing of guidance, but latching too tightly onto these entities can be just as dangerous as having none at all.  Discernment through love and a trust for other people is often the best thing you can give someone that is trying to hear God’s voice.  God may not always tell you what is right or wrong for another person – it isn’t your life.  Just as you desire that the people giving advice to you would trust God’s voice in your heart, you have this same freedom and opportunity to speak with a humble understanding that God has the authority to void out every word that you speak.        

 

I remember the first two multiple-month trips that I took to Central America and how many people approached me before these ventures with very demanding and stone-set assurances that I was making irresponsible and blatantly bad decisions by immersing myself in third world culture.  In those times, there were countless good reasons and applicable scenarios that could have forced my trust into fear.  But somehow God’s voice was louder than my potential fears in both of these experiences and when I followed His voice, God proved His involvement in these journeys.  If I had obeyed what was ‘reasonable’ or ‘safe’ my life would not be where it is today.  Those two trips turned out to be the greatest and most influential times of my life: one’s that I would not even trade the hardest of those days for anything else, because I see what God has done since and through those hardships.  My life was radically changed and the foreign mission field will now always be close to my heart.    

 

I am not suggesting that every person saying they want to go gallivanting through Central America is making a wise decision: I am merely proposing that the same open-hearted discernment we use in our own decisions should be granted to the people that surround us.  The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is alive and vibrant inside of each of us: what potential could come from a life that not only lived with a trust in God’s ever-chatting Spirit, but also inspired everyone else to live in this same manner?