"7-8My dear friends, I'm not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you've known it from day one. It's always been implicit in the Message you've heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!
9-11Anyone who claims to live in God's light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. It's the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God's light and doesn't block the light from others. But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn't know which end is up, blinded by the darkness." (The Message)
The letters of John spend a lot of time focusing on the theme of love toward one another. As John says, "I'm not writing anything new here." Yet it seems like this is the hardest thing to get right. The church is not always known for how well it exhibits love toward those outside the church let alone how well they love each other. Could part of the problem be that we really have not approached the issue with an honesty that allows us to have a common understanding of what loving one another looks like?
When I was growing up we would often play baseball in the back yard of the church next door. Because of the size of the yard we had ground rules that dictated how we played that were different than if we went down the street to play on the baseball diamond at the school. So when there was someone new who joined us or we got into an argument over how things were being called we had to stop and go over the ground rules once again. Sometimes we made exceptions to the rules and sometimes we changed them because they just weren't working anymore. But no matter what everyone knew the rules and agreed to play by them or they didn't play.
If the church established some ground rules when it came to the expectation to love one another what might they include? As we begin our new faith gathering I believe this is going to be an important conversation and one that will change as we grow in faith and love. So as a way of starting the conversation here are a couple of things that I might suggest.
Ground Rules for Loving One Another:
- Everyone is made in the image of God and thus worthy of full respect
- Everyone will assume that others have their best interest in mind
- Everyone will speak with honesty to one another in kind ways
- Everyone's needs will take precedence over any one individuals wants
What might you suggest to add to the list?
Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:
- Have you ever had an experience where you felt as if you were fully loved by a group of people? What made you feel that way?
- Who do you know that feels as if the church hasn't loved them in an appropriate way? Why do you think they feel this way?
- What ground rules do you have in relationships with others? Do they change depending upon the person or situation?
- Would you have to change anything in the way you related to others if you agreed to the above ground rules? Would it be easy or difficult? How could you start?
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