A Study of Christian Love Part 5

Greetings again my dear readers:

So far we’ve covered a lot of territory in our look at the qualities of agape love which the Apostle Paul brought to the attention of his fellow Christians in Corinth.  I imagine you never really thought there was so much to it.  But as we learned in the first three verses of that important chapter in First Corinthians it is of such vital importance to our salvation that we should really try to understand the subject as thoroughly as possible, and its application in our lives.  That is why this series tries to leave no stone unturned.   We move on:

“It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.”  (1Co 13:6)

Do we entertain ourselves with stories of people doing things we know God does not approve of?  Do we find ourselves in agreement with ideas and actions which we know from God’s word he finds offensive?  Do we listen to gossip about others?  Do we secretly rejoice when others get away with something?  Those are all things involved in rejoicing in wrongdoing.

We don’t have to do anything ourselves, just passively approve of them in some way to be acting contrary to Agape love.  So, on the contrary, we avoid such approval and act positively by going the opposite direction.  Love rejoices with truth.  That means more than just avoiding wrong, it means to be focused on what is true.  That can mean on biblical truth, but it goes much further.  We would want to entertain ourselves with those things we know to be truth in a positive way.  We would rejoice with those who follow truth and work towards its glory.

Thankfully, there is music, books and movies which are healthy to entertain and stories around us to rejoice in.  We should especially be pleased to hear stories of how God has worked wonders in the lives of his saints.  That is one of the best kinds of rejoicing in truth available to us.  But being Christians does not mean we cannot entertain ourselves, if that entertainment is such as befits a holy people.

Now we turn to another aspect of love:

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  (1Co 13:7)

Love bears up under the load of trouble or oppression, which can come in many forms.  Anytime people gather together as groups for a purpose there are inevitably stresses, politics and other things which may become a “load,” or burden.  The church is no exception this side of the veil.  That load may even become quite heavy as imperfect people are won’t to gossip or in other ways make the way harder for others for many reasons.  But not only do we not want to impute wrong motive to such who make the way harder in some way for us, as covered earlier, but love will move us to bear the load until the Lord sees fit to remove it.

Love believes all things, that is the good.  That’s why it is so loath to attribute wrong motives unless one has concrete proof to the contrary.  Love prefers to believe the best of our brethren, neighbors and others with whom we interacted with daily, but especially our dear brethren.  We never no why somebody might do something contrary to what we might expect in the way of manners, something people tend to get so easily bent out of shape over.

I grew up with a mentally ill mother.  Dad left us when I was an early teen and mother preferred to keep us to her self, not allowing us activities away from her.  Her illness was such that she was in no position to teach us children common manners.  And to this day I can go around a room full of people and offend many of them without any idea of how or why.  My beloved wife has tried to help in that regard, but it still happens at time in spite of my best efforts.  I know I give an extreme example, but ask your self next time somebody does so if perhaps it may just be they known no better, as in my case.  If we believe the best, hope the best; then we will be able to endure both the small and the great things which come our way.

Now I’m going to relate the story I mentioned about some Shakers earlier as this is probably the best way to end this part of our consideration before moving on to the last, and a very exciting part of the message Paul gave.  The shakers are virtually gone now, but for a time they were no really small group and what we consider a shining example of love as a quality.  They did have some extreme views; the communal living and denial of marriage and insistence on celibacy for members are all a big part of why they’ve passed from the scene to become a curiosity.

There is a story of a Shaker commune who discovered a significant part of their crops were being stolen.  When they met they chose their typical path of not reporting the crimes to the sheriff so that the thieves might be apprehended and punished.  They decided that if the thieves were stealing it they had a greater need for it than the Shaker community.  But the story doesn’t stop there.  In the spirit of Christian charity they simply planted more crops, enough to provide for the needs of both their community, and those who were stealing.  Would that all who call upon the name of Christ were that way!

The Shakers left us a wonderful set of abandoned communities which now serve as museums and stand in mute testimony to their industriousness, thrift and inventiveness.  But can anyone doubt their greatest legacy left for us consists of stories like that.  They encapsulate everything we’ve discussed so far about love as a practical matter in our lives.

Trials

“Consider it all joy, my brothers, whenever you encounter various trials”

James 1:2

Now why would James write that?  The subject crossed my mind when I was recently hospitalized for a raging infection.  I had plenty of time while I lay in bed with nothing really to do but read a Gideon Bible and an interesting book titled Pilgrim Echoes, a compilation of the sermons of a minister little known outside my own group, the Bible Students, whose ministry as a travelling minister was kind of short, with him finishing his course after ten years, and think.  None of those sermons directly addressed our theme verse, but it got me thinking about the nature of trials and their purpose since he did speak on them in several of the sermons I read.

The word James used for “trials” is πειρασμός (G3986) and the root for this noun is the verb πειράζω (G3985) which Thayer’s gives a meaning of “to try, make trial of, test: for the purpose of ascertaining his quantity, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself.”  James uses the verb later in verse thirteen twice when telling the brethren that God does not tempt us with evil.  Since the noun and verb both refer to a testing in a good or bad way we’re clued in by the later verse as to which way James means it.  That is that the testing is done in a good way, with approval as its end.

But how can that be?  After all, trials are hard things, as if we were going through fire!  Well, aside from the fact that it isn’t always the case, please hold that thought a moment and continue on.  We find a fascinating passage addressed to Israel in the last book of the Old Testament in which the thought of fire in the same sense God permits trials is used.  That would be Malachi 3:1-3, where we read:

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye desire, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts. But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap: and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in righteousness.”   (Mal 3:1-3)

I underlined the appropriate sections where our master is portrayed as a refiner using fire to refine the tribe of Levi that they may be pure and able present offerings on the behalf of their brethren.  While it may be possible he will refine the tribe of Levi here on the earth, I think I’m on safe ground to say that this really refers to the Church, who are both priests and kings to our God (Rom. 8:14-17; Rev. 20:4-6).  So God is purifying the Church, and he does so through trials.

So how do trials accomplish this?  Well, it really goes back to the purpose of trials as implied through the word James used.  Does God really need to test us to find out if we measure up?  Who would we be kidding with that question?  God already knows the answer.  So the testing must be for somebody else’s benefit.  Could it be for our own?

Refiner’s fire first reveals impurities and then burns them away.  In a similar fashion, my dear friends, trials reveal to us our own weaknesses and give us the opportunity to work on them if we fail the testing the first time around.  This thought is implicit in James’s words when he explained to his brethren that God does not try us with evil:

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man: but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.”

(Jas 1:13-15)

God allows the fire of trials to come upon us to allow us to see where we are weak and to purify us that we will be like fine gold fit for his plan for us.  But it also strengthens us much like subjecting fine steel to heating up and rapid cooling hardens it to a fine temper making it stronger.  So far from being something to avoid, trials are something to desire as they are a sign that God is dealing with us as his adopted sons and heirs (Heb. 12: 5-13).  Then we can be reassured by James’ words at James 1:3 and 4:

“Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.”

God’s Psychological Plan

Many years ago I used to sit outside in my car and listen to the radio during lunchtime.  Like most, I was a fan of Paul Harvey.  But there was also an evangelist who came on during my lunch hour who will remain names less I would listen to if he caught my attention.  One day he did when he announced he was going to talk about “God’s Psychological Plan” for us.  His sermon for that day was something of an epiphany for me which has served me in good stead at times over the years.  So I’m going to share that illumination with you my dear friends.

The formula is found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, in the fourth chapter:

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; (vs. 5; ESV)

First of all our minds should be focused on the Lord and his soon to be revealed kingdom, which will restore that which was lost.  That will help us to keep our reasonableness in the midst of this every chaotic world which is headed towards it’s destruction at his hands.  We want our lives to be such, that others will see our God-inspired calm as things get further out of control.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  (Php 4:6-7)

Here we are told not to be anxious over anything, and we are told how, by making our cares known to God.  That is important, that we talk to God and let him know what’s on our minds, what bothers us.  Then after placing in his hands we need to leave it there trusting he will do what needs to be done for our best welfare.  When it seems that our prayers aren’t getting answered, then we must trust that he is working things out for our well-being and in the time best for us.  In my experience that is usually the case.

But the advice isn’t without a promise.  We are told that his peace, the peace which is superior to all troubles will guard both our hearts and our minds.  What other outcome can there be, dear friends, when we place all our cares in the hands of he who is the author of all and who is so powerful he answers to no other power on earth or in heaven?  With almighty God for us no power in heaven or on earth can defeat us (Rom. 8:31), though he could allow us to be taken down into death, just as he did his son (Rom. 8:32), if he justifies us nobody can stand between us and the prize (Rom. 8:33-39).  So with that in mind we cannot help but be at peace no matter what happens around us, or to us.  But there is more:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.  (Php 4:8-9)

This is the final step in the plan and the one many mental health experts agree with.  We live in a world filled with every violent and corrupt thing imaginable.  We cannot go to the theater, turn on the TV or go to the library or bookstore without being offered some of the worse and most corrupting “entertainment” offered in the history of the world.  But for true peace we must fill our minds with that which is right in God’s eyes.

But notice the subtle change in thought in this passage.  We’re told not that we will have peace, as in the earlier passage, but that “the God of peace” will be with us.  Fixing our minds on what is right is a pre-condition to his coming near to us and giving his protection, both physically and mentally, to us.  And think about it a few minutes.  How can we ever hope to have peace if our minds and hearts are always fixated on what is wrong and strains us mentally and emotionally.  We can’t.  But if we fix our minds on what is good we are in a better frame to deal with things and we are in a better position to have God’s help.

So there we have it.  Philippians 4:5-9 was the passage a slick radio and television evangelist labeled the “Psychological Plan of God.”  Through the years, though, I’ve been convinced by using it from time to time that he was right.  In this short passage we have a compact plan for the true Christian to follow for peace of mind, even at the worse of times.  I will go it one further.  This is a plan we should keep in mind and follow everyday, period.

Christian Character Development Part 4

Now we reach the last, but not least, of the character traits Peter listed dear friends and readers,

Love.  What differentiates this love from the brotherly love we looked at in the last post on Christian character development?  Is it the fact that one would be willing to die for another?  Hardly, men die for romantic love, ερος, they die for love of family, στοργη, and we’ve already seen they’ll die for love of a best friend, especially in a military context, φιλος.  But will somebody die for a stranger, or even a bitter enemy?  That is what the last character trait, or αγαπη, is all about.

Agape love, which is how that last kind of love is pronounced and known, is best defined as pure and unselfish love.  Every other love we’ve seen has an element of selfishness behind it.  Romantic love has the end of sexual relations as its motivation.  Familial love has an element of possession in it.  And love of a best friend is motivated by a mutual return in loyalty and deed.  But agape love seeks nothing in return.  In the case of such love for God it is motivated by an appreciation for the things we learn about God, his character.  In the case of man the fact that man was created “in the image” of God is enough for us to love those around us and even those who would harm us.

We have two examples from scripture of agape love which stick out beyond all others.  The first is Jesus’ sacrificial death for us.  But while he was on that cross he showed the extent to which he loved even those who drove the nails into his flesh and hung him up naked and bleeding for all to see.  It is recorded for us in Luke 23: 34, where he prayed “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.”  The second is from the experiences of the early Church where Stephen was put on trial and then stoned.  As he was dying we are told in Acts 7:60 that his last words were a loud prayer to God, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.”  That his prayer had a favorable hearing is indicated for us by the selection of one of their number, the man who watched over their cloaks so that they wouldn’t be stolen Saul of Tarsus, to become the Apostle to the Gentiles and the twelfth foundational stone of the Christian church.

Agape love ties everything else together.  That was probably why it came last in Peter’s list.  We know that Peter knew of Paul’s letters to the congregations and probably read them (2 Pet. 3:15, 16).  So he may well have been familiar with Paul’s words in the thirteenth chapter of first Corinthians, where Paul used both the first and last verses of that chapter to show that love ties everything together (1 Cor. 13: 1-3, 13).  In the first verses Paul shows how important agape love is when he informs his readers, and that includes us, that if he did not have that pure and unselfish love all his impressive works would be for naught.

So the question then becomes do we have this kind of love so intensely for others that we would pray for our persecutors even as they pull tight the rope around our necks as they murder us for being followers of Christ?  I guess you probably realize why I can say those who contend that agape love is a cold, unemotional, exercise of the will are wrong.  Still, if we haven’t yet reached that point in our character development we may well want to work on it to the best of our abilities.

So there we have it, eight character traits.  We’re told that if we “diligently” cultivate faith, moral character, knowledge, self-control, endurance, brotherly kindness and love that it will “keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.” (2 Pet. 4:8).

Christian Character Development Part 3

So far in our study on Character Development we’ve considered four Character traits the apostle Peter told his fellow Christians to work on in his second letter (1:4-8).  Let us now consider some more.

Endurance is the “quality… of withstanding hardship or stress” (The American Heritage Dictionary).  The Greek word is υπομενω (G5278) which is a strengthened form of μενω (G3306) which means to be placed or rooted; to endure.  Υπομενω, then, means to “endure, bear bravely and calmly” (Thayer’s, pg. 674, meaning 2b.)  The implication in the word is to endure, or bear up, under tribulation.  Tribulation comes in many forms and from many directions.  In the United State of America, where I live it comes primarily through being disowned by family or friends and the consequent killing of one’s reputation.

The world does not like that which is not its own and persecuted our Lord first of all. (John 1:9-11).  As his slaves we are no better than our Master and can expect no better than what he got (Matt. 10:25, 25).  So family may cut us off, as some of mine have, and one can expect to be slandered, often behind their backs by both family and friends.  They may lose jobs, as one Christian fellow I know did when the ministers of his town banded together to get him fired because of his beliefs.

In some lands, though, true Christians are subject to arrest, prosecution and imprisonment and even execution.  They may also be subject to mob attacks and beaten or even killed.  And lest we think we are secure from that kind of persecution here in the Western nations there are historical precedents as recent as the twentieth century for such harsh persecution.

So endurance is an important quality to cultivate right now if we find ourselves in lands where persecution does not extend beyond social disapprobation.  And in lands where it is worse it behooves Christians to cultivate that quality all the faster.  Although no persecution is pleasant, our Lord told us to rejoice over it in his sermon on the mount (Matt. 5:11, 12).  The last verse tells us why “for great is your reward in heaven.”  That is the bottom line for true Christians and keeping our focus on that is what helps us to have the proper attitude in the face of persecution.

Godliness is the next trait.  Godliness is translated from the Greek word ευσεβεια (G2150).  Vine’s says that this word “denotes that piety, which characterized by a Godward attitude, does that which is well-pleasing to Him,” that is, God.  So the true Christian wants to please the Almighty God, Jehovah, and seeks the already covered knowledge of what pleases him, as the person portrayed by the psalmist in the first psalm, and then does his or her best to do it.

The truly godly Christian is not one who does things for show, rather, he or she is motivated from the heart to please the God whose character they have come to appreciate.  Thus they become like a lamp themselves, shinning forth in this world darkened by Satan’s influence.  Although it can be cultivated true Godliness is not a forced trait since it comes from the heart and is motivated by God’s Holy Spirit.

Brotherly Kindness is the last trait we will consider today.  The Greek word here is φιλαδελφια (G5360).  We know the word from the city name Philadelphia, or the City or Brotherly Love as it is often called.  This word is a combination of two words, one which means brother and the other which is one of the five words in Greek which mean love.  This love was the sort of love one feels for their best friend, or a soldier feels for a fellow soldier.  It is a deep love, one which will move a person to stand and fight beside a bother in arms, and even die for him.  It is also the same love which will move us to stand up for our best friend and help them no matter what the trouble or risk.

So by adding brother to loving as a best friend we get a combination telling us in addition to the traits already discussed to cultivate love for our Christian brethren, such as we would die for them if need be.  This is consistent with a command Jesus gave specifically to his followers to follow after his death.  On the night before his crucifixion Jesus commanded his disciples, not once, but twice for emphasis, that they were to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:31-35; 15:12-17).  Jesus did everything he could for his disciples, spending himself right through to death.  He sacrificed his life for them and us, that we might have life immortal in the heavens should we prove worthy.  Thus he left us the command to love our Christian brethren, even unto death if necessary.

That means we will always want the best for our brethren.  We will watch out for their reputations and not add to any burden they might already have to bear due to the hatred of this world by passing on unkind words.  Should we see them take a misstep, we would want to help them adjust their way in a spirit of mildness (Gal. 6:1).  Should we see them in need we would fill that need, even if it meant materially, pulling money out of our own pockets if God has given us enough surplus we can fill that need (James 2:14-17).  We would give freely and willingly and not seek excuses to justify otherwise, thus be in danger of becoming judges over our own godly brethren (Matt. 7:1-3).  The aim is to be perfect in our love toward all, but especially our Christian brethren as our father in heaven is perfect in his (Matt 5: 48). 

By doing this towards each other we become a true brotherhood, and our strength becomes more than the sum.  That helps us to be Godly and have more endurance.  It is not without reason the Bible often applies military metaphors to the brotherhood of Christians.  We are not alone in our race, never forget that dear reader.

Christian Character Development Part 2

Greetings again my friends and readers:

In the last post we started a series on Christian character development.  We considered two qualities listed in 2 Peter 1:4-8, faith and moral character.  In this post we continue starting with knowledge.

Knowledge is an essential component for our walk in the Christian way.  Without it faith is impossible in the first place since one has to know what one is having faith in.  It is so important that Jesus referred to it in rebuking Satan when he said that one must live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4; Luke 4:4).  Of course Jesus was referring to the inspired word of God, the source of truth our creator has given us and against which all teaching must be measured (Acts 17:10-11, where we have recorded for us the Bereans checking the Holy Scriptures to confirm Paul’s testimony).

Divinely inspired knowledge isn’t secret.  It is as open to all as the Bible.  It doesn’t require training in some seminary or university to know and understand being simple enough that many throughout the Gospel age have figured it out in its essentials often with little more than the right scraps of God’s word available to them, such as the book of Romans, which is an exposition on basic truth.  There are bible helps today, books and other literature written by mature Christians, but one should always check what is written against the Bible itself to make sure such writings really do teach the truth, just as the Bereans mentioned earlier did.

Correct knowledge of the truth enables us to keep our steps straight and serves as a light to guide us in this darkness (Ps. 119:105).  Without knowledge of what God wants of us we wouldn’t know how to build the kind of character he wants.  And he has not left us without that knowledge as we are considering the list of character traits he wants us to have he left us right now.  Because of its importance it is indeed that Peter included it in his list to the brethren in the first century.  That is why Bible reading goes before Bible study by means of Bible helps.  By reading it daily using a good translation we will have the requisite grounding in the word to recognize what is truth and what is not.  Thus the child of God makes time to daily read the word (Ps. 1).

Self-control is next.  The word Peter used was ἐγκράτεια (G1466), which Thayer’s defines as “self-control (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites).”  The true Christian doesn’t live primarily to satisfy his or her desires as the world does.  He or she has given up all earthly hopes for a greater gain, to be partakers of the divine nature as Christ is (2 Peter 1:4).  So the ones called out of this world are under trial right now as to their fitness to join their fellows as kings and priests in the coming kingdom of the Christ so they must develop this quality in order to be fit for their role in that kingdom (Rev. 20: 4-6; 1 Cor. 9:24-27).

So self-control is a mark of Christians.  They don’t vent anger, over drink, overeat, watch pornography, or indulge in many other ways those in the world do.  Although they may marry, sexual relations are characterized by love with the Christian not letting selfishness take over and causing harm to his or her partner physically or emotionally as far as possible.  That means they will not insist that their spouse engage in distasteful and dangerous acts many in the world do, nor will they insist on their way when their spouse finds something distasteful or legitimately aren’t up to it.  “Everything goes” just isn’t the way of the Christ dear readers, and it shouldn’t be ours.

To be self-controlled also means the true Christian is honest in their relations with others.  The Christian employer gives his workers an honest living wage and Christian workers give an honest day’s work for their wages, whether their employer is a Christian or not.  True Christians are honest in their business practices, not seeking the advantage over others with sharp or dishonest business practices.  And those with self-control are honest even when it hurts their reputation…or even their pocketbooks.

Self-control includes controlling one’s tongue.  There is so much damage the unguarded tongue can cause.  Gossip destroys reputations and causes resentment, especially when untrue.  Thoughtless words cause anger and resentment as well.  It is not without good reason that James wrote of how such a little “member” of our body can cause such great fires (James 3).

And the preceding paragraphs are by no means exhaustive on the subject of self-control.

We’ve now considered four of the character traits we want to cultivate in order to develop our characters as God wants of us dear readers.  We’ll continue on with the next in the series.

Have a blessed day.