Annoyed.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends...This is my command: Love each other." -John 15:9-13, 17

As Christ-followers, one of the most explicit commands we have from Jesus is to "love each other". To HIS standard - as he's loved us. We hear this so much that it becomes like one of those things we brush off as "yeah yeah we know." When it comes to doing God's will, we often struggle with wanting to know what this mysterious will is. We ask, "God, what is your will for my major? What is your will for my college? What is your will for my grad school? What is your will for my career? For my marriage?" Rarely does our God make these answers clear right away, but there is a command he's very clear about. LOVE EACH OTHER.

When you picture Christians loving each other, you get a picture of happy Christians being nice to each other at church, at meetings, hugs, smiles, and handshakes. It's even easier for the "nice" people. I've always been a "nice" person. This isn't me bragging, in fact it is something I'm ashamed of. Jesus wasn't just a nice person - he called the Pharisees "You snakes! You brood of vipers!" (Matthew 23:33). I would've left the name-calling out. First thing Jesus did when he entered the temple in Jerusalem was overturn the tables of the money changers and the benches of the dove-sellers. Reminds me of an episode of Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta when my girl K. Michelle gets in a fight with Karlie, and Karlie starts shaking the table. Or in Real Housewives of New Jersey, when Teresa flips the table at a classy family dinner. Those reality show ladies are def not nice. But Jesus was more interested in being passionate about His Father rather than just being agreeable with everyone.

So for "nice people" like me it seems that the command to love each other is easier than for people with a hot-temper. It's not. Because loving each other isn't about being nice to people, it's "laying down your life" for people in order to bring them closer to Christ. We hold to Christ's standard and we will be judged by Christ's standard (Acts17:31). Pastor Yu reminded us at the retreat that on judgment day, the fire will test all our labor and God will shake all things. Anything in our lives that is not Christ will not last. Only Christ will last. The only kind of love God will accept is the love that found its source in Christ and poured out to others.

Right after this passage, God talks about the world hating us because Jesus chose us out of the world and hated him first. Right after he commands us to love each other, he says the world will hate us. So what I don't understand is this: How are we expected to love a world that hates us and hates Jesus, when we can't even love his church, our family of brothers and sisters???

Yes, in church God COMMANDS us to love people we don't like. I've had and still have my moments where I don't like a brother/sister in Christ because of something they've done. I've let it grow to bitterness/passive-aggressiveness. But I need God to keep me in check to help me keep my thoughts in obedience to Christ. Even if we know we don't like somebody, but keep it to ourselves and don't express it, we need to watch out! Watch out if you think, "Yeah I have my opinion about him/her, but I'm not gonna tell it to their face so it's all good and it won't do damage." James 1:14-15 says, "..each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown gives birth to death."

It sucks to see within our own church that we just "tolerate with each other." Who are the people that you don't get along with? That you find annoying? That you've had the urge to punch in the face? Will you just settle for having your unexpressed opinions about them, but not necessarily to their face? Will you settle for being civil with them when you see them at church, but then vent to other people who will understand your frustrations? If someone is venting to you and joking about this person behind their back, will you settle for joining in the jokes, convincing yourself that it's nothing serious but just for fun? Does this person trigger you because of their sin against God and harm to his church, or because you just don't like their personality? And if the reason is really about sin, are YOU doing anything as their sister/brother in Christ to "restore him/her gently" (Galatians 6:1)?

Jesus calls us to MORE than just that. But we find ourselves saying, "Well that's just my opinion. Can't I just be real about this person? That's just how I feel. Why can't I just do me." The reason why we can't just DO ME anymore is because we are DEAD. All of that has been crucified. To really LIVE OUT CHRIST by his new-life power is to deny your own personal opinions/preferences/feelings about this person and replace that with how Jesus feels about this person. How did Jesus feel about the woman caught in adultery? He said "Then neither do I condemn you...Go now and leave your life of sin." When the other sinful woman wiped Jesus feet with her tears and hair, and everyone else was judging her, Jesus said, "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little" (Luke 7:47).

So if we want to be serious about loving Jesus, which is basically obeying his commands, and his explicit command is to LOVE EACH OTHER, then let's start with remembering how much, the long uncountable list of sins that gets longer each day, that Jesus forgave us for. We always need to look back at ourselves. If we are finding it hard to love someone, see it as an area where we still need to lay hold of Christ's victory. WE don't need to TRY to love that person, WE need to deny ourselves and let Christ LIVE in us instead. Let's celebrate NOW because Christ's has already won that victory for us, and by partying it up with Jesus we'll show that we believe He already has. Then watch how He'll change us from within.

Let's keep each other accountable for the way we love each other, starting within our own church. Stop with the "just for fun" jokes, stop with the gossiping, stop with the venting. We are talking about God's redeemed children here. Keep this between you and God, unless you are really trying to let this be an area where Christ will take over and need encouragement and prayer from your brothers/sisters. Unless we get past this first step, we can't be expected to lay down our lives for our family in Christ. And unless we give sacrificial love to our own family in Christ, we can't be expected to love a world that hates us.