Love First

Several years ago I had a friend who was scared to tell me she was gay. I knew she was gay. I had known since almost the beginning of knowing her. We never talked about it, but to me, it was obvious. I assumed she knew I knew. But after working together for a year, we were walking together to a meeting at a work conference and I asked her how things were going with so and so.  She stopped mid track in the middle of the walkway. She said that she knew I wasn’t like “other evangelicals” but she still felt scared to talk about her relationship with her partner at the time with me because she was gay and I was still an “evangelical.” My heart broke. So much went through my head at that moment. What has happened that a friend is scared to talk to me about her life? What had we “evangelicals” done to wound her in the past, to cause her to hesitate with me? What would Jesus be feeling if she said the same thing to Him? What has gone wrong? I immediately looked at my friend, told her I of course knew she was gay, and then apologized on behalf of all evangelicals for whatever has happened in her life in the past that made her hesitant to share anything with me, that made her fear judgement. And then I hugged her. She was grateful and we walked on to our meeting. But I kept wondering, “what has gone wrong?”

A couple of weeks ago, this question came up again. Austin made national news when a group of Christians, in the name of Jesus, heckled and protested a peaceful rally of Muslims at the state capitol. I saw this story and grieved.

If our main mission is to see people come to experience a relationship with Jesus, how does this help? How does hurling judgement and condemnation so angrily upon others help them experience Jesus’ love? Isn’t it His kindness that leads to repentance? Have our political agendas trumped our communication of the gospel? Have they become more important than Jesus? What has gone wrong?

Here is the thought that has been in my head - love always trumps judgement.

Look at Jesus. He was the perfect example of grace and truth. He never condoned sin and He spoke truth, but he initiated every relationship with love. He led with love. He responded with love. It was an act of love to initiate with the woman at the well. It was an act of love to forgive the woman caught in adultery. It was an act of love to eat in a tax collectors home. It was an act of love to accept the harlot who washed His feet with her tears. It was an act of love to bring his friend, Lazarus back from the dead. Love was the path. In fact, I could make an argument that the only people He responded to with anger and judgement first were the religious leaders of the day who valued the law more than the people. Jesus was the opposite. He loved the individual and it was His love that led to repentance.

This is what He modeled to us. Yet so many have been hurt by followers of Christ heaping anger fueled judgement upon them in the name of Christ. And I get it. We (believers) live in a world that doesn’t value Jesus and we feel our faith is being attacked. Or we turn on the news and hear reports of ISIS beheading 21 of our Coptic brothers, or another innocent aid worker or journalist. And we’re hurt and angry and we want justice or just want to do something. And so we strike. But this is not the way of Christ. Jesus didn’t model striking back. God said vengeance was His. Jesus modeled love, even to His enemies.

So during this season of lent, as some of us give something up for 40 days so as to elevate Jesus in our lives, let us embrace love. Not a love that condones sin or suggests that truth doesn’t matter. No. But a love that leads us to the cross. The cross that says we are all sinners and none of us worthy. The cross that reminds us we are all in need of a savior. The cross that demonstrates how loved we are. The cross that shows us a Savior who died for ALL of us, Muslims included. The cross is not the ultimate act of judgement. It is the ultimate act of love. So in this season, let us ponder His love of us and let it lead us to the cross.