Conditional Love

So I've been talking to a good friend of mine about Jesus. He doesn't really know what to think about Jesus. He does know what he thinks about the majority of people he knows or has had contact with who claim to know this Jesus guy and call themselves Christians. He doesn't feel very loved by some of these people and he definitely doesn't feel welcomed in their churches.

It is ironic to me that he referred to the church as "their" church, not God's church. Sadly some churches have become more about themselves; having the biggest and best church, the richest church, the prettiest, the most popular, the most serving... Maybe we are drifting from what God intended the church and His people to be.

If you have read anything that Jesus taught then you know He talked a lot about love. He was always in relationship with people. In fact when Jesus was asked, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" he replied, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind' - this is the great and foremost commandment, and there is a second like it, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself'. The whole Law and Prophets hang on these two commands." (Mtt 22:37-40, Mrk 12:28-34).

We talk a lot about love, about unconditional love, but do we truly give it? I tend to say very few if any of us love unconditionally. We have a set of "rules" and if you don't follow those rules then we limit the love we give. This friend of mine said these "rules" really turns him off from wanting to ever go to church. He said he felt like he couldn't be himself around "Christians" and still be loved, he felt as if he had to become a clone of some sort. If he slipped up and cussed or if he wore strange clothes or tattooed his body or smoked a cigarette he would be judged, and nobody wants to be judged.

This really bothers me. Didn't Jesus say that is how people would know we were His? Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35). He didn't say love them if they don't cuss, love them if they turn from homosexuality, love them if they dress nice and take a shower. He said, "As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Notice the period, there is no stipulation to that love. And if you know anything about Jesus, He loved the unclean, the sinner. So why can't we? Why must we feel like we must change people in order to love them? Have we not learned by now that it is not our job to change people, but God's; our job is to love them, unconditionally.

I've seen it happen, I've been guilty of it. Someone does something that you don't approve of and so you withhold love to "teach" them. We withhold love to try and change people and that is the exact opposite of what Jesus taught us. He taught us to lavishly love people and He not only spoke it but He taught it through example. God NEVER withholds love from us to teach us. His love is unconditional.

We judge people subconsciously all the time. What would this world look like if we loved people not just with our words but with our whole heart. God is not a Republican or a Democrat; He is not rallying for gay rights or rallying against them; He is not a conservative or a liberal. He is love, and I believe if you and I gave unconditional love the world would change because God would be freely working in it.

My friend isn't offended by Jesus, he is offended by Christians. He said he wants to know more about this Jesus that I so dearly love but doesn't think he would be valued or loved in church. It breaks my heart to think that people feel safer outside the church than in it. I challenge you to pray that God will fill you with His love and that you can see people as He sees them. I guarantee you will see God work through that love, it will free you and change the world.