Are We Loving Jesus?

 

Good morning friends,

 

The other day I met “Sam”. Early in our conversation he asked me what I did before retirement and when I told him that one of my vocations was as a pastor the conversation turned to…turned to…turned to what exactly? Is there a word that describes what it turned to?

 

Sam has been highly involved in “church” over the years and I won’t say more than that because I want him to remain anonymous, just as I won’t provide any details about how we met. This was a challenging conversation for me, not unlike many conversations I have with “church” people, but this one was especially challenging – possibly because Sam was so sure of himself and because of his many church connections. I think I could have done better in my time with Sam, but right now I’m not sure how.

 

As with many church folks I meet, Sam immediately gravitated toward the conservative – liberal axis assuming that I was one of his social and political tribe, and therefore assuming that I defined myself by the tribe, and therefore assuming that this political and social tribe is the tribe of Jesus. He also therefore assumed that the hot – button social and political issues of the day are the issues that should define “Christians” and are what we ought to talk about before and above anything else and use as our litmus test of relationship.

 

On the other hand, I wanted to talk about Jesus. In fact, I wanted to explore Sam’s relationship with Jesus. I wanted to see if Jesus was Sam’s center of gravity and first and highest love. I wanted to put into play 1 John 1:3, “…what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

 

You see, I know what it is to substitute other things for Jesus. I know what it is to put political and social and church agendas before the Person of Jesus. I know what it is to be religious without living in Christ and being centered in Christ. I know what it is to be somber without Christ as well as what it is to play the tambourine and sing and shout without Christ. I know what it is to do things in the name of Jesus Christ without actually living in the Vine, Jesus Christ.

 

Sam and I spent about 45 minutes together and he just couldn’t “hear” me. I was trying to connect with him in Jesus, I was trying to draw Jesus out of him, I was trying to encourage him to talk to me about Jesus in his life; but all I heard was political, social, church stuff; the whole liberal versus conservative, and conservative versus liberal…but no Jesus.

 

When Sam did refer to Jesus he referred to Him as many professing Christians do, as a spokesperson for agendas other than the Gospel and the Father; Jesus has become our pitchman for the Constitution, for economic systems, for social agendas, for political parties, for church organizations. Could it be that we will soon see Jesus selling cars and wireless plans?

 

(Don’t misunderstand me, we are fools if we don’t think the way we serve others matters; see Matthew 25:31 – 45 and 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. Pushing drowning people back into the water while we play on our cruise ship is sinful, ugly, and disgusting – we should not forget that Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:9 – 10. We are to be the Face of God to the world, the continuing Incarnation).  

 

This leads me to C. S. Lewis and his book, The Great Divorce. In my recent rereading of the book I was struck by the following passage, an excerpt of a conversation between a “Spirit” and a “Ghost,” the Spirit being a “departed” person now in Heaven, and the Ghost being a departed person who still has the potential to experience Heaven (remember, this is a dream Lewis is writing, he is not making a doctrinal statement about what happens after we die, he is exploring spiritual dynamics):

 

"Why, if you are interested in the country only for the sake of painting it, you'll never learn to see the country."

 

"But that's just how a real artist is interested in the country."

 

"No. You're forgetting," said the Spirit. "That was not how you began. Light itself was your first love: you loved paint only as a means of telling about light."

 

"Oh, that's ages ago," said the Ghost. "One grows out of that. Of course, you haven't seen my later works. One becomes more and more interested in paint for its own sake."

 

"One does, indeed. I also have had to recover from that. It was all a snare. Ink and catgut and paint were necessary down there, but they are also dangerous stimulants. Every poet and musician and artist, but for Grace, is drawn away from love of the thing he tells, to the love of the telling till, deep down in Hell, they cannot be interested in God at all but only in what they say about Him. For it doesn't stop at being interested in paint, you know. They sink lower - become interested in their own personalities and then in nothing but their own reputations."

 

"I don't think I'm much troubled in that way," said the Ghost stiffly.

 

"That's excellent," said the Spirit. "Not many of us had quite got over it when we first arrived. But if there is any of that inflammation left it will be cured when you come to the fountain."

 

"What fountain's that?"

 

"It is up there in the mountains," said the Spirit. "Very cold and clear, between two green hills. A little like Letha. When you have drunk of it you forget forever all proprietorship in your own works. You enjoy them just as if they were someone else's; without pride and without modesty."

 

Pages 84 - 86.

 

Bold is mine.

 

Are we more interested in what we say about Christ than in Christ?

 

Are we Christians without Christ?

 

Are we our own victims of John 5:39?

 

How is it that we call ourselves Christians and yet not talk about our relationship with Jesus?

 

Is 1 John 1:3 a reality in our lives?

 

Are we loving Jesus?