The Parable of the Beaten Jew: Part 1 - Dangerous Love

As I already mentioned a few posts back, I had the opportunity to give a devotion at a Sunday morning breakfast at my church a few weeks ago. When I was asked to do this, I was at a loss for a topic, but was soon reminded of our God's faithfulness. One evening Michelle and I were flipping through the channels and came across a Christian broadcast network, where we saw a popular youth pastor on his own 30 minute show delivering a quick, "extreme" devotion/application. His whole thing was about how Christians (teenaged Christians in particular) are challenged with interaction and making friends with their peers. He brought the talk around to Matthew 22 and the great commandment, and from that he concluded that loving others all depends upon loving ourselves first. Brothers and sisters, I couldn't disagree more with this.
Now, I have heard this concept before, as I'm sure many of you have as well. In fact, I hear it every January during the "Equality Discussion Panels" my college holds on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Right off the bat, the very concept of "loving myself" period, never mind before I love, or in order to love, others just sits wrong with me. I recall scriptures that say that we are to regard others more highly than ourselves, and that the heart is deceitful and wicked and that no man can know it. How can we love ourselves in light of these words? As I looked more deeply into the concept, and to see how anyone can see it supported in the great commandment, I saw how dangerous it really is.

To be Continued....

Him2?

Even if their music is not your particular cup of tea, there is no doubt that the vast majority of us have at least heard of the rock band U2 and/or their front man Bono(who is now as well known for his humanitarian efforts as he is for his music). Ever since the early 80's when their first album came out, the band's lyrics have contained obvious religious content. Coming from a mixed Catholic-Protestant Irish families, the religious views of the band's lead singer have long been debated. However, the displayed behavior of the band has not been, shall we say, "exemplary" of a Christian lifestyle. This placed them, and Bono in particualr, in a peculiar position: dubbed "Christian" by many secular critics because of his lyrics, tagged "secular" by many Christian critics. In other words, there has always been a big "huh?" factor surrounding his spiritual condition. I was pointed to this article that seems to shed some light on the subject. I found it bold, intelligent, honest, enlightening, and encouraging. It made me grin.

Hopefully Devoted....

It's kind of funny how God plops things in your lap when you least expect them. I had been sweating about what I was going to talk about for the devotion I am giving this Sunday morning at a breakfast at my church. As I wrote earlier, I had been in kind of a slump until recently, and it was proving hard for me to focus in on a particular topic or idea. So, one night Michelle and I were watching some bed-time/wind-down TV (usually news). As I was flipping through the stations, I saw this guy on the "Christian" channel that we get out here who typically rubs me the wrong way every time he opens his mouth. So, being the type of guy that I am (whatever that may be), I put down the remote and waited to see what he would say this time to get me riled up (which really hasn't been that hard to do lately. Poor Michelle....). This guy starts talking about loving your neighbor, which immediately struck a chord as I had been pondering this topic as part of the whole "in/not of" thing. Using Matthew 22 (Love the Lord you God with all....and your neighbor as yourself), he goes and says, "So you see, we can't love others until we learn to love ourselves first." I can't tell you how much this worldly, sinful notion of love for self grates on me. It's bunk. Pure, stinky, evil bunk. I had remembered how often I had heard this line during the "Diversity Panels" on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at school over the past two years, and how much it frustrated me then, too. So, I went to the scriptures, was doing some reading and a little quickie exegesis, and said, "hey, I should just keep studying this and do it for my devotion!" So, that's what I'll be talking about. How much of an idiot this guy on TV is.



No, no, no, I'm kidding. What I'm going to do is cross referencing Matt 22 with Luke 10 where the two commandments are repeated (not by Christ, but He affirms them in the discussion), and is followed by the parable of the Good Samaritan. In doing this, and by referring back to Leviticus 19, where the commandment is rooted, I will show that we can only love not by first loving ourselves, but by first realizing that we are unlovely. I'll key in on the centrality of the character of the Jew who was robbed and beaten on the road to the parable in Luke (something that you don't hear much), the nature of provision in Leviticus, and scriptures such as Rom 5 to show that love requires us to first know our position before God and His provision for our salvation. Once we understand that we were saved from death, that we have nothing outside of God in Jesus Christ, that we are unlovely yet loved by Christ (and therefore made lovely ONLY through Him), only then can we rightly love our neighbor and, in so doing, mirror the image of our Savior to him and the world.
Right now, I'm trying to decide what parts are essential to the message and what can be trimmed out to keep it to 15 minutes. Obviously, it will be more detailed than the above explanation. It's kind of hard, though, because every time I go back to look at the components, something new jumps out at me, and the "oh, cool!" factor makes me want to include it in the message. Oh, well. I suppose I can save all that stuff for a sermon someday.