Johnny Poppin 4B; Do we know Him? How do other's know if we know Him?

³We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. ⁴The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

-1 John 2:3-6

I wanted to say some more about this passage because it dawned on me that I may have only been seeing it from one angle. There's another angle that I think is simpler and more profound.

I was asking, "how do I know Him?" The verse says that if we obey His word, then God's love is made complete. If I say one thing and do another, I'm a liar when I say that I know Him. So, I had asked, "how do I obey His commands." I stand by my last post, that God's ultimate command is love.

But what about from the outside? How can others tell if we know Jesus?

Same answer; LOVE.

Last night Campbell Brown was mediating between two Catholic priests who were arguing and seemed totally contemptuous of each other. Evidently an American Bishop had told a member of the Kennedy family that he could not receive Holy Communion because of his political stance on abortion. One priest felt that this was completely appropriate and consistent with church law. The other pointed out that Pope John Paul II had administered the sacrament himself directly to Italian lawmakers whom he knew full well favored pro-choice legislation.

The battle was heated and unpleasant, so say the least. Neither of these supposed men of God appeared to have much love for each other, let alone for anyone who disagreed with each one's point of view. Oh, I know that the anti-abortion argument is that"Thou shalt not kill" is one of God's commands, but "But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Matthew 5:22)

If looking at a woman lustfully is tantamount to committing adultery, isn't holding such disdain, anger, and hatred for your philosophical or political opponents tantamount to murder?

This incident on CNN reminded me that following the Protestant Reformation, Europe was plunged into a period of almost continuous religious conflict and civil wars. Christian hating Christian, Christian maligning Christian, torturing Christian, slaughtering Christian, all in the name of Christ and defending right doctrine.

Evangelicals like to make a big deal of the Pilgrims coming to America seeking religious freedom- but they never seem to recall that they weren't being persecuted by atheists or Muslims or Jews, the Puritan Separatists were escaping King James I (as in the King James Bible!).

Just this week a 400 lb car bomb partially exploded outside the Policing Board headquarters in Belfast, Ireland- even though they've had peace agreements between Christians and Catholics there for ten years now. Someone thinks it's more important to be right and destroy those who are wrong, than to be patient, kind, protective, hopeful, or trusting (1 Cor 13:4-7). They may think that they know God, but are they REALLY following His commands?

Yesterday I posted my comments on a verse in the Christmas carol, Oh, Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel;

Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.

A friend of mine commented on that post on facebook with the lyrics of Irish band U2-

"And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, sisters, brothers, sisters
Torn apart

The real battle's just begun
To claim the victory Jesus's won
On...

Sunday, bloody Sunday.."

What I learned the other day about hauling grain at harvest is that if the tractor driver wants to just do his own thing, it can be disastrous. If I moved away from the combine to feel safer or more in control, the farmer couldn't empty his corn tank into my wagon. If I sped up to get done faster, grain falls short of the wagon and money is wasted. If I get too close to the combine, we could have a potentially fatal accident with our huge machines. I have to match speed and hold a constant, and appropriate for the grain drop to hit the wagon just right.

Sometimes we take our eyes off of Jesus and the love and forgiveness of the Gospel because we're busy examining and scrutinizing the moves and motives of everybody else. How well do they measure up? How well do they cut the mustard? It becomes so important to us that everyone follow each letter of the law perfectly, that we forget what the spirit of the law really is. It's a forest/trees thing.

Don't get me wrong, I do it to. We're so zealous to defend and enforce the truth, that we forget that the truth has set us free. Swedish theologian Bo Giertz does an eloquent and touching job of illustrating this with the main character, in his book "The Hammer of God," the young pastor stirred people up to follow God's rules and live pure and chaste lives- but he fails to really show them how much God loves them or to lead them to either love God or love one another.

I realize that this devotion has gotten a little long, so just let me wrap it up and bring it back to our original question. How can others tell if we know Jesus?

To answer- more song lyrics:

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

By our love, by our love

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

By our love, by our love

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love