The Sacrificial Love of Christ

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor 13:13)

On Valentine's Day, it seems appropriate that we talk about love. But with such a broad topic, where to go with it or what to say in a short space seems daunting. Just listing the options seems overwhelming. For instance, we could look into:

• 1 Cor 13 and Paul's definition of love (plus love being greater than the gifts)
• How John uses the love relationship between the Father and the Son to display that Jesus is truly God and that everything He is accomplishing is born out of that love.
• The deep, passionate marital love (and picture of Christ w/ his bride) found in Song of Solomon.
• The sisterly and familial love of Ruth and the tender love of Boaz
• The brotherly love of David and Jonathon
• The creative, sustaining love of God in Gen 1&2, followed by the grieving love of God in Gen 3.

Each these would worthy of a post, but I'd like to reflect for a moment on the sacrificial love of Jesus. This is probably best summed up in John 15:13 "Greater love has no than this, that he lay down his life for is friends." Combine that with Rom 5:7-8 "For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." and we have the heart of the gospel.

The essence of God's salvific love is not that He loves us because we are so lovely or even that we are so potentially lovely. The incredible, awesome, unimaginable saving love of Christ is that He loves us because we are unlovely. Remember the rebellion, remember the sin, remember the self-love. The picture of the Bible and our own lives is that, left to ourselves we always go the wrong way. And God loves us anyway.

We must also remember that God doesn't just leave us as He finds us. His love rescues us, redeems us, restores us. But it does so at cost. Just like everything else in life, salvation isn't free. Oh it is free for you and for me, but is was not free for Christ. The debt had to be paid. Our debt had to be paid.

I want to add one more layer to this awesome picture. If you are a follower of Jesus, you've been called to be a disciple. One of the aspects of being a disciple is hanging out with, living with, interacting with your master so that you become more and more like the master you are following. Isn't that what the disciples did in Jesus' day? The question becomes, is what we are doing today? Especially as it comes to sacrificial love. We will never die for anyone's salvation. Precious few us of will be called on to die for our faith. But as followers of Christ, as disciples of Jesus aren't there small, but very real ways for us to "die" for our friends. Think about it. In the church, in our homes at our jobs. What kind of revolution would we see if we decided to seriously be loving disciples of Christ?

To God Alone be the Glory

When a disciple is fully trained

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. (Lk 6:40)

I'm not sure I like the implications of this verse.

Actually, I can fully agree with the first phrase. None of us who claim to be disciples of Jesus will ever surpass him. Of that fact, there is no doubt. I can even weasel my way out of the second phrase. None will ever be fully trained, at least in this life. Right? Ah, the pressure is off.

Or is it?

It struck me this morning, maybe for the first time, how much lip service we (or at least I) pay to the concept of growing in Christlikeness. There is a great picture of this growth in Eph 4, but it is really spread throughout the New Testament, both explicitly (the whole book of James!) and implicitly (Paul's attitude in prison). I would dare say it is woven through out the Old Testament too (rend your hearts, not your garments). But do we really believe it? And, perhaps more tellingly, do we really pursue it?

Here's my big concern. I think we (or at least I) have lost track of the biblical concept of discipleship. The whole point, back in the day, was to commit your entire life to following, listening, learning, absorbing everything possible about your master so that one day the disciple would become his own master and do the same with others. This is the plan (the only plan) that Christ had for building the church. Read the Great Commission with this perspective in view.

So, what has happened? First, we've lost sight of the goal to be like our Master. Salvation has become the end game, instead of a glorious part of the entire discipleship process. Somehow, we've componentized Christianity so we can be saved and just live life for 40-50 years then go to heaven. And, if we get a little better along the way, praise God. Yet this is so far from the expectations of Jesus and the apostles that I have to ask, is it even biblical?

Second, we've lost the goal to be a master. No disciple is greater than his or her master. We established that fact earlier. Yet, in true biblical discipleship, being a disciple was not the final objective. It was a means to an end. Like college in a way. College set me up wonderfully for a successful career, but I never thought, "Wow this is so much fun. I want to stay in college forever" Our attitude toward discipleship should be the same. Now, every illustration breaks down at some point, as mine does here. We never graduate from being a disciple of Christ. We must always be learning from Him, because there is always more to know. But we must not think of ourselves as perpetual students. Instead, we should see ourselves as either masters-in-training or as masters-in-service. Either way, we need to be soaking in all that God has to teach us and pouring out all that He has taught us.

Well, where do we (or at least I) go from here. In the words of a church kids program I just participated in, I need an attitude adjustment. Or more precisely a perspective adjustment. I need to see that being a master is not just an o.k. goal, its expected (maybe I can use a better term, but it is biblical). I need to see that all Jesus is pouring into me by the Spirit is not just for me but for all who would follow me. And I need to not be afraid to embrace 1 Cor 11:1 with a confidence that is resting completely in Christ: "Follow me, as I follow Christ."

To God Alone be the Glory