Having washed the Apostles’ Feet, their Lord and Master resumed his seat and began to instruct them: A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:34-35).
Since there was longstanding instruction to “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Lev. 19:18), we might wonder what was new about the Lord’s command. While we might wonder what was so new, the disciples would not.
Their companion was the Son of God, the King of Israel, far superior to them in every way, yet he had deliberately treated them as if they were superior to him. And more than that, he had then commanded them to act in a similar manner to each other. They would immediately feel chagrined, as they had just been debating who among them should be the greatest, and they would recognize that never before had there been a command to deliberately treat each other with this kind of loving humility (for further comments, see the first of Bro. Barling’s new series beginning in this issue).
Christian love
While Christ’s specific action at the last supper was a very dramatic example of his attitude, there was nothing new about it. Throughout his ministry children, sinners, weak and hurting people had been attracted to him. His was not the face of arrogant royalty but a face that spoke of gentle concern and empathetic response. His appeal had consistently been: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matt. 11:28-29 NIV). And they did come, being attracted by his lowliness of manner and gentleness of expression. They saw his face and felt comforted by it.
We may feel the great feature which marks us as belonging to Christ is that we have the truth — a right understanding of the gospel, which is very important. Yet, according to our Lord, the single most important distinguishing feature of the Christ community, the one by which all men know that we are his disciples, is that we love one another with the very kind of love he demonstrated — treating of our brethren as our better.
The apostle Paul amplifies this critical factor of Christian love:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (I Cor. 13.4-6 NIV).
The kind, patient face of Christ is what Debroah Kaufman saw when she was suddenly taken ill (“The Unchosen Minority” in this issue). The engaging, helpful, joyful face of Christ-like love is what visitors saw when they attended the campaigns in Guadalajara and St. Lucia (see the CBMA section). Christadelphians who travel frequently see the face of Christ’s love in warm hospitality when they are entertained by brothers and sisters who did not previously even know them.
An anomaly
Yet there is another face one sees on us that is not attractive or appealing.
- A complaint was heard from a participant in a meeting with Christadelphians — he did not feel like he was dealing with those who were possessed of the attitude of Christ. The faces he confronted showed no gentle empathy, but stubborn resistance and condescending control. Everyone there claimed to be a devoted disciple of the Lord, but many of the faces did not look like the face of Christ. They were not Christ-like, but “Christ-less” was his comment.
- In a recent periodical, an article appeared urging believers to shun other believers if they disagreed on significant points of Bible teaching. The article envisaged those involved would be in the same congregation so that visitors would have the remarkable experience of being warmly welcomed by two brothers who would refuse to talk with each other. The visitor would see the face of Christ turned to himself but immediately changed into the angry face of disdain when the brother looked at his fellow believer.
- And we were approached by some who considered leaving the community because the faces of those whom they held as Christ-like elders had turned on them with harsh rejection and intolerance. They did not know what they had done to incur such hostility until they later discovered they had, in innocence, strayed from traditional procedures.
A common element
In each one of the above incidents, disciples were confronted with perceived error and handled it badly. And in each situation a Bible passage was quoted to justify what turned into unChristlike behavior:
- We must earnestly contend for the faith we have received (Jude 3).
- Whoever does not abide in the doctrine of Christ must not be welcomed into the house (II John 9-10).
- Let all things be done decently and in order (I Cor. 14:40).
Christ handled similar situations
Somehow the Lord whom we follow did not lose his humility and grace even when confronted with error and hatred. Nicodemus was a great religious leader in Israel and heard the rebuke: “‘You are Israel’s teacher’ said Jesus, ‘and do you not understand these things?‘” (John 3:10). Yet the gracious manner of the Master was such that Nicodemus was drawn to the Lord, defended him at trial and lovingly laid him to a short rest. The disciples were sharply rebuked, “Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith” (Matt. 8:26), but the Lord’s loving countenance was such they were not turned away by the criticism.
In the midst of a challenging confrontation when Pharisees, Herodians, scribes and Sadducees were all trying to catch Jesus at his words, one of them spoke wisely. The Lord was not so overwrought with defending the faith that he missed it: “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God,” he encouraged (Mark 12:32-34). And when he saw the Ephesian ecclesia that had eradicated all error, he saw something else. They had lost the face of loving enthusiasm and he warned them to get the love back or they were headed for spiritual disaster (Rev. 2:1-6).
What’s our problem?
Upon examining oneself, many a believer is frustrated with his own inconsistency. Sometimes he has the face of Christ beaming with loving kindness and gentle humility. Other times he realizes his face is set in angry hostility, contemptuous pride or disdainful judgmentalism.
The problem is we keep on letting the flesh get the best of us.
The loving humility commanded by Christ is not natural, far from it. What is natural to us is “…hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy…” (Gal. 5:20-21 NIV). The disciple, of course, realizes this but it doesn’t change the fundamental impulses of our nature; and when these impulses can produce scripture to seemingly justify rigidity and intolerance, we have a deadly combination.
The solution is honest self-examination every time we meet around the table of the Lord. That is not as easy to do as it is to say. It is very easy to seize on II John 10 and expand it to include every doctrinal disagreement. It is easy to claim the need for pure teaching to justify exclusivity and elitism. It is easy to forget that we are warned, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge.. .but have not love, I am nothing” (I Cor. 13:2). And Paul warns Timothy who was wrestling with strife in the ecclesia, “Now the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart…”
The face of Christ is not easy to consistently reflect. To have a measure of success, we need to relentlessly examine ourselves and persistently pray the Lord will help us to reflect the glory of his face and not the ugly face of the flesh.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One