“Everything will depend on whether as disciples they love one another. In this mutual love lies the criterion of the identity by which they will be known to the world, not in order to win the world’s admiration by their irreproachable conduct as a separatist group, but so that, by their mutual acts of service and self-denial, they may evoke the image of Jesus in his self sacrificial love for sinful humanity.â€
Herman M. Ridderbos, The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987. p. 477.
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Holdridge 04.29.07 at 10:30 pm
Yes. Our love for one another must be a love that loves through how smelly, dumb, unpopular, or just plain annoying we are. This is the only kind of love that looks like the father’s love for us. Good spot.
The church has never done this well. I think the best example of this sin taking root in the church is in “affinity” groups, where you get together with people who are like you or who have the same hobbies as you do. You know, these are the Christians you can really love as you share the same loves (thus the “affinity” of the group).
Thanks for that quote, T.
How forgetful we are that our one true affinity is Christ!
Greg Laurich 05.01.07 at 7:06 pm
Very nice. I agree with the above poster that Christians struggle with this. We get in our holy huddles and then can’t seem to get back to the world that desperately needs us.