(This week’s message at Living Word Christian Center turned out to be a review message in many ways. Since this blog follows the message, this will be a review time as well. Sometimes the reviews are even better than the originals.)
Matthew 22:37-40(NKJV) 37Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
The first scripture the Lord led me to as we began to listen to his words on the love of God was the one above. I have spent much time in this space commenting on it, but I want to take a few minutes today to express something the Lord has been dealing with me about in my own life.
The term “soul” in this context means life. In Mark’s account of the same story, Jesus adds the word “strength.” This is an indication of what he means by life in Matthew’s account. We must place all that we are at God’s disposal. We can hold nothing back from him. Loving him means our time is his and our money is his. Loving him means our talent is his and our resources are his. All that we are belongs to him.
I have been meditating on that as I examine my own life. I have had the privilege of knowing some people who went through severe persecution and war. Many of them were driven from their homes. Most of them lost relatives to violence. Although their Christianity was not the main reason for the violence, their faith was challenged in these times.
One of my friends speaks of a prayer meeting held in their home. The rebels knew they had a prayer meeting there and decided to attack the meeting. They came the night after the believers had met for prayer. My friend’s wife and small daughter left the country on the last flight available. My friend left a few days later by car. They found themselves in a foreign country with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a few pictures. I have never been challenged in that way.
While in Armenia last year, I was teaching in a pastor’s conference. A number of pastors and leaders attended from Iran. These men and women were on fire for God. They believe that God is going to give them their nation. One of them was going back to Iran after the meetings even though the secret police were likely to harass and possibly arrest him. They put twelve pictures on the wall and asked us all to pray for these people. They were pastors who were still in prison for their faith.
As I looked at those pictures and talked to these wonderful people, I was deeply challenged. I have never had to choose between my faith and freedom. I have never suffered the loss of a loved one to violence. I say I love God with my whole life, but what does that really mean to me?
We are blessed to live in a nation that was founded on Christian principles and religious freedom. I thank God for that every day. I believe it is imperative right now that we pray for the preservation of that nation and those rights. I do not know how I would react if I were challenged as the people I have spoken of have been challenged. I suspect that God would give me the grace to deal with it. I believe most of you would rise to the occasion as well. I pray we never have to find out.
I am not comparing their experience to ours. That would not be wise. I am using their experience to ask myself, what does it mean to me to love God with my whole life? We do not have to worry about people in uniforms carrying guns breaking into our Sunday morning meeting. We do not have to worry about losing our jobs because we are Christians. Once again, I say, “Thank God and may it ever be so.” Sometimes I wonder, with so much blessing and freedom in my life, what do I give for my love to God?
As I look at myself and at the church in America, I have to say that blessing has, in some ways, made us soft. We complain about so many things. We feel so “put upon” if we are asked to do more than what is comfortable. We do not have time for prayer or bible study or extra church meetings.
We still invite people to come to our church for three-day meetings. Sometimes our people do better than other times when it comes to attendance, but I believe it is healthy to set three days aside in our schedule for the things of God. Often when I travel, pastors just do not even try to have multiple services any more. They will have me speak at the regularly scheduled meetings, but that is all. If they have special meetings, people just do not come. It is too inconvenient.
I have to wonder if we would have church at all if it meant secret meeting places that had to be hidden from the government. I suspect we would. I suspect they would be fully attended and growing. In most parts of the world where the church is underground, people come to the meetings in great numbers. Those are the places where the church is growing the fastest.
Maybe this is because people think the Word of God is worth more if it costs more. In America, it does not cost much to go to church. It costs some time. It costs some effort to get there and then you have to sit through a message. If it cost prison, would we be more on fire?
I am reminded of an incident in the ministry of Jesus. He went to a rich Pharisees’ house. The man did not have a servant there to wash his feet when he came in. It was customary for a host to do so. A woman came and began washing Jesus’ feet with her hair. The rich Pharisee thought to himself, “If this man were a prophet he would know this was an unclean woman.” Jesus said to him, “You didn’t provide me with the customary foot washing, but she has not stopped washing my feet with her tears nor drying them with her hair. She has been forgiven much, therefore she loves much.”
I do not intend to put what we used to call in the 1970s, a “guilt trip” on any one. I am simply thinking about myself. In Revelation 2:1-7 Jesus speaks to the church at Ephesus. He has many good things to say about them. He commends their works and their attitude. They have persevered in trial and resisted evil He says to them, “I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”
Do I love God the way I once did? Do you? Am I willing to make my whole life available to the Lord? I do not have to risk death to do so. Am I willing to risk time and pleasure? Am I willing to go out of my way for my neighbor? Am I willing to seek God for his power to touch my family, my city or my nation?
Do I walk away from the church or even the Lord himself when things get a little tough? Do I feel that I am being persecuted when someone pressures me because of my Christianity? Do I just give in and take the easy route? How valuable is my relationship to God through Jesus Christ? If you ask me, I would say it means everything. Nothing in my life is more valuable than the Lord and his presence. However, do my actions agree with that?
I cannot answer these questions for anyone but myself. I am not completely satisfied with my answer. I am not trying to answer them for you. I do encourage you to ask them. I do encourage you to examine you love for God. I pray we do not have to experience the things that others in the world are experiencing in order to find out what the state of our love for God really is. If we examine ourselves now and make the necessary changes, I believe we will not have to find out the hard way in the future.
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