Red Letters/Black Letters: Day 109: Love Part 2 - Service Love

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; 

as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34

We are supposed to love each other, this we know, but here Jesus takes it, if not another step at least a different one, here Jesus commands the disciples to love one another as Jesus has loved them. This is not an abstract statement, because just a few paragraphs earlier in John 13 Jesus loved the disciples in a very particular way, he washed their feet.

I don't know what Christian faith tradition you come from, but by and large I come from the Church of God (Anderson, IN) and in CHOG we [mostly] practice foot washing yearly. We do this partly to remember what Jesus did for his disciples, but also to humble ourselves, to remind ourselves that no one of us is more or less important than any other of us. All of that is great, and while I appreciate the foot washing services I have been a part of I don't think that is all Jesus is commanding his disciples to do.

If you pay attention to the titles of these posts you probably know where I am heading, but for those of you who don't and still didn't even though I just pointed it out [you know who you are] I believe that this particular type of love that Jesus is commanding of his disciples is a love that is shown through service. Jesus told his disciples multiple times that he did not come to be served but to serve, this is something that we in the 21st C. church, especially in America need to remember. Too often we come at the world with a sense of entitlement, and while we do that for many reasons one of the worst is when we do it because of our status as Christian. For some reason we believe that because we have chosen Jesus we are somehow better than those who have not. Or, we believe that because we have asked forgiveness for our sins those who still sin are worse than us.

The fact of the matter is that  whether you've been a Christian since the womb or been one for five minutes. or never been one you are no better and no worse than anyone else. And so, Jesus commands to serve one another in love. To wash the feet of those who come to us. To help those who need us. To speak for those without a voice. To see those that society overlooks. To hold those who are shunned.

+ Do you serve in love or out of obligation?

+ In what ways do you love well? In what ways do you need to improve?