Where is the love?

Brothers and Sisters of Christ, in the book of Matthew, chapter six and verse twenty four, Jesus declared to his disciples “No one can serve two masters”. However, we Christians have spent the greater portion of the past two millenniums apparently trying to prove Jesus wrong. We have told ourselves that we can indeed have both the things of God and the things of this world. Many of us live our lives no differently than do conservative non-Christians, except for the fact that we attend church regularly each week.

We watch the same entertainment.

We share the same concerns about the problems of this world.

And we are frequently just as involved in the world’s commercial and materialistic pursuits.

Though Jesus tells us “These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.Often, our being not of this world exists in theory more than in practice”. Often, our being not of this world exists in theory more than in practice.

But the church was not originally like that. The first Christians lived under an entirely different set of principles and values than the rest of mankind. They rejected the world’s entertainment, honors, and riches. They were already citizens of another kingdom, and they listened to the voice of a different Master. This was as true of the second century church as it was of the first.

The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity.

The Buddhist eight-fold path,

The Hindu doctrine of Karma,

The Jewish covenant,

And the Muslim code of law…each of these offers a way to earn approval.

Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional.

In other words…a love without a condition.

Where is the love?