Love One Another

by Richard C. Meyer

Upon reading Jesus' words one wonders what he meant by love being a " new" command. After all, love itself is not a new  commandment but an old one. We find it recorded in the Levitical Law --- " Love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:38, NIV).

Since this commandment had been around for centuries, why would Jesus call it "new" ? As a child had he fallen asleep when those verses were covered in Sabbath School? Hardly. A couple of other possibilities make more sense. For example, some say the reason for the "newness" of the commandment had to do with it being a specific command to the church, rather than a universal command. In other words, Jesus is not speaking of love to be shared with people everywhere, but rather to be shared within the fellowship of Christ.

This may be true, but I prefer another possibility. John Killinger, in his work A Devotional Guide to John, states, "The ' newness' of the commandment lay not in the commandment itself but in the motivational clause attached to it: Love one another as I have loved you."

A new, deeper dimension has been added. The example is Christ. We are called to love one another as Jesus loved his disciples. Therefore, to become the kind of loving community Christ modeled, we must pay close attention to how he loved his disciples. For, as he loved them, we are to love one another in the church.

How did Jesus love his disciples? What characterized his love for them? William Barclay, in his commentary on John from the The Daily Study Bible Series, suggests that Jesus loved his disciples in four ways: selflessly, sacrificially, understandingly, and forgivingly. I suggest three additional essentials of Christ-like love: realistically, intimately, and intentionally.

First, Jesus loved the disciples realistically. . . . [B]eing fully human as well as fully divine, he was completely realistic about his earthly limitations. He knew there was no way he could love everyone in the same way. Knowing his limitations, he chose twelve individuals into whom he poured his love. . . .

Secondly, Jesus loved intimately. For three years, he and the disciples did everything together. They ate and slept together, cried and laughed together. They saw one another on their good days and bad days, and even before their morning cup of coffee! . . . Having him as our model, it is rather amazing that for the most part we have lost this sense of intimate loving in the church. Oh yes, there are a few congregations across the land that have followed Jesus' example, but for the most part, church members keep a safe distance from one another. . . .

We have allowed a counterfeit gospel to penetrate our lives-- the Gospel of Rugged Individualism-- rather than the Gospel of Jesus. The Gospel of Rugged Individualism tells us, " Don' t let anyone get too close. Make it on your own. Sharing your hurts, doubts, and weaknesses is reserved for your family only."

How contrary to the Gospel of Christ. Even Jesus needed twelve people around him with whom he could be intimate. He fostered a ministry of closeness rather than of distance. . . .

Thirdly, Jesus loved intentionally. In Mark' s gospel we read:

Note two things hereabout Jesus. First, he chose to live in intimate fellowship with the disciples. In effect, Jesus was saying,  " I have chosen you to be with me." He was very intentional about being in fellowship with the disciples. It did not happen coincidentally. He planned it and chose to make time for it.

Second, note the vehicle Jesus chose for living in intimate fellowship with the disciples. Your are correct -- a small group. . . .

Jesus carved out time, gave up other things, to be with the disciples on a regular basis. He made himself available to them in a way he was not available to others. Was he being insensitive to the rest of the world or showing favoritism? No! He was just being realistic, intimate, and intentional with his love. . . .

When we participate in a small group, we are loving one another as Jesus expected us to love. When we make the group a high priority, only missing for illness or being out of town, we intentionally create the intimate sort of community Jesus had in mind for his people. When we say "yes" to small group life and "no" to other things, we are being realistic about our time and using it wisely, knowing that our small group can have a powerful ripple effect upon the world. . . .

Richard Meyer served the church in pastoral ministry for 25 years. He pastored small (250 members), medium (800 members), and large (1275 members) congregations. In the fall of 2000, he left pastoral ministry to follow his passion of calling people into deep spiritual community through small groups. For years Richard has been a much sought-after conference speaker and small group consultant, and a regular columnist for Faith at Work Magazine. He currently is working on completing the One Anothering book series. Volume III of the series will be published early 2002 by Innisfree Press.

From One Anothering, Vol. 1, by Rev. Richard C. Meyer. Copyright 1990 by Innisfree Press. Reprinted by permission.

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