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Who Ya Gonna Love?


Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (I John 4:20-21)
 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:38)
          Recently, someone who seems to have no idea of what Christianity is about complained about some people who, apparently claiming to be Christians, informed him that he was going to Hell because of what she writes. I tried to explain a little, but there’s a language difference. The fact is that if she is going to hell, it’s not because of what she writes. She writes what she writes because she is going to hell. 
         There’s a story I like to tell that I found on the internet. A guy explained that he had gone to great lengths to build up his biker look. One day, a mother pulled her daughter away from him and told the girl to stay away from the dirty biker. He complained to social media that the woman was a terrible person because she assumed he was what he had gone to great lengths to appear to be. Shame on her for believing him! And had she treated him in a manner inconsistent with his appearance, she would have been telling him he had failed in his disguise.
         If I tell a person who is heading north from Erie on I 90 that they are headed to Buffalo, does it do them any good to scream at me that they’re headed to Cleveland? Am I judging them by saying that they’re headed to Buffalo? If they protested that they’re actually headed to Albany, that’s one thing, but attacking me because they think they’re going to reach Cleveland makes no sense. In the same way, if I observe their life and inform them they’re on their way to hell, it gives them a chance to turn around. It can be a loving thing to tell someone – or it can be full of hatred. Having been condemned to hell by someone who claims to be a loving, good person, I know how my friend feels.
          All of that brings us to today’s passage. If you claim to be headed toward Cleveland, but you’re driving north on I 90 from Erie, you’re not headed to Cleveland. You’re headed to Buffalo. If you claim to love God but hate their brother or sister (whether genetic or Christian) they’re going in the wrong direction and need to turn around. It’s hard to love a brother or sister because they’re close enough that you know all their flaws, and they know all yours. It’s harder to love God because He’s closer, and He knows all your flaws, but He doesn’t have any. 
          That brings us to the second passage for the day. We are supposed to love our brothers and sisters, but Jesus made it clear that we are to love Him more. So if I tell a person that they are doing right when Jesus says they’re doing wrong, who am I loving more? The person, or God, or myself?

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