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AS I HAVE LOVED YOU…LOVE ONE ANOTHER

                           Chicago Fellowship Leaders 

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

    When I went to pray with Mother Barry recently, she asked me if I had thought of a key verse for Chicago UBF for 2017. It had been my prayer topic for nearly three weeks. Then, John 13:34-35 came to my mind. At the Last Supper, Jesus said to his disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” These words touched my heart, especially, “As I have loved you…love one another.” I accepted this as the Spirit’s guidance for Chicago UBF in 2017.

First, “As I have loved you.” Before telling his disciples to love one another, Jesus had first set the example of love. We can learn what love is through Jesus’ example. Jesus’ love was unfailing; he loved them from the beginning to the end. Even though they committed sins and made mistakes, he did not stop loving them. Jesus loved Peter faithfully, even when Peter claimed he would lay down his life for Jesus and then denied him three times just a few hours later. Jesus’ love ultimately restored and raised Peter to become a great servant of God. Jesus loved Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, to the end and offered his life for Judas. Jesus’ love does not stop even when we are at our lowest points. Jesus loved each of his disciples with the same unfailing love.

    Jesus’ love was sacrificial. As he stooped down to wash their dirty feet, he also went to the cross and shed his blood. His blood purchased their forgiveness and ours, and cleanses us from all sin. This love cost Jesus his life. In addition, Jesus’ love was willing service. Jesus helped his disciples in many practical ways. He met people’s true needs, no matter how small they might have seemed. Jesus’ love healed and strengthened and restored his disciples until they could be changed into men of love who could be shepherds for lost people.

    John the Apostle received this love from Jesus. He called himself the apostle whom Jesus loved. In his first epistle, John said, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1Jn 3:16). As we try to love others, we must first receive the love of Jesus. Then we need to dwell in this love and become people of Jesus’ love. Our love should reflect his love for us. We cannot practice this love in our own strength, but only as we rely on the love Jesus has for us. We can remain in this love when we remain in Jesus’ words. Moreover, to remain in his love, we need the help of the Holy Spirit; this love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Before we say much about loving others, we need to commit ourselves to dwelling in Jesus through his words and prayer and living a Spirit-filled life. This compels us to repent of our sins daily, to trust Christ and cooperate with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us and helps us to grow in love.

    I am thankful for the Lord’s help in 2016 to grow in his love. There was an attitude in my heart which tarnished my love for his people. In retrospect, I see that it was a kind of pride based on receiving training. Serving beside Dr. Samuel Lee I learned wholehearted commitment to ministry and to finish the work to the end, no matter what. Though this was invaluable in preparing me to serve God, it also created a standard in my heart. I thought everyone should be follow this standard. I often judged people as being lazy. I sometimes judged people as being uncommitted. This kind of judgmental spirit hindered me from loving people with Jesus’ love. Let me give an example. When Dervilla and I married, we did so with a radical sense of mission. Our wedding ceremony was on a Saturday, as the fourth couple to be married on that day. Our wedding notice was so short that neither of our parents could attend. Our honeymoon lasted a few hours until the following Sunday morning, when I had to return to help Dr. Lee’s message preparation. In the context of this experience, when I saw young people marry recently, I sometimes struggled. They did not share their wedding day with others. They involved their family members and friends in significant ways. The UBF community celebrated just their wedding all day long, including a well-prepared reception. Then the couple went for a week or ten days to wonderful resorts. Of course, I presided over these weddings and I was genuinely joyful for the couples who married. But in the corner of my heart there was a kind of judgmental attitude. I can give many more examples, but the point is that I tended to look down on others based on a kind of pride in receiving training.

    Through the study of Luke’s gospel, I was challenged again and again by Jesus’ love for people. I found myself far from his heart. I could not but repent my useless pride and ask to learn his genuine love for people. The Holy Spirit changed my heart. I am learning to accept others with genuine love and to help them grow. I am thankful that many people count me as their friend. They feel that they can talk to me freely without a sense of being judged. This is God’s grace to me. I pray that the Lord may continue to sanctify me through the Holy Spirit to be a man of Christ’s love. This is one way that I grew in love in 2016. I believe we can all make progress in growing in the love of Christ in the new year. It is each one’s personal struggle to grow in Jesus’ love that will strengthen our community.

Second, love one another. As we learn Jesus’ love for us, we are called to love one another with this love. This is not a suggestion or an option, but the command of Jesus to us. Obviously, learning to love one another is very important to Jesus. In fact, he says that by this all people will know that we are his disciples. Practice of Jesus’ love should mark us as his people more than anything else does. This is what causes the lost to take notice and amazes the world. Jesus’ love cannot be found anywhere in the world. Jesus’ love can only be found among his disciples. This is our best testimony to the world. We may make many programs and learn many skills and work hard to engage in campus evangelism. But if we do not genuinely love one another, our progress in spreading the gospel is greatly hindered. For example, when there was conflict between UBF leaders on a certain campus, new students who came to Bible study were greatly puzzled. They felt that the Bible teaching was good, but when they observed UBF leaders’ cold attitudes toward one another, they felt it was hypocritical. In many cases, these young people were coming from broken homes or dysfunctional relationships. They don’t need another realm of dysfunction in their lives. They are looking for a healthy community of God’s love. This is what they need. But, honestly speaking, our environment did not make them feel safe.

    To please our Lord Jesus Christ, and for a fruitful ministry among college students, it is vital that we practice the love of Jesus truly from our hearts with each other. While this is something each of us must struggle to do personally, there are some areas where we also can struggle in common. One is regarding generational differences. Frankly, the older generation can be more loving and embracing of the younger generation. As many of us know, we have had a cultural shift in our times, referred to as the rise of post modernism. There are significant differences in the world view and value systems of the generations. One way this is evident is in how we come to know something to be true. The older generation gives a lot of weight to what is rationally, logically, provably true by human reason based on legitimate sources. The younger generation is more interested in how something feels to them and how they experience it in practical life. We cannot say one is right and the other is wrong. Yet, there is a tendency among those who are older to assume they are right. We may confidently assume that the younger people will eventually agree with us. We wait for them to catch up to us. But in fact, they are not even following the same trail we have blazed before them. This leads us to a disconnect in relationship that prohibits genuine engagement, not to mention love.

    I believe that older people should take the initiative and reach out to the younger. The effort may not be successful at first. We need to persevere until we can truly understand a young person as they are. As we engage and find differences between us, how do we handle them? With the younger generation as a catalyst, and the Scriptures as our guide, we need to reexamine our world view and value system. With the love of God in our hearts, we can learn from the younger generation in ways that will help us to grow to maturity. I am sure that when we have this kind of mindset toward the younger generation they will respond very well. They are more eager for a genuine relationship than we realize.

    As for the younger generation, it is a Biblical constant to have basic respect for those who are older. There is no true love without respect. This does not mean to silently digest everything said by older people without raising questions. Young people should feel free to ask questions and share their opinions. But in doing so, it is important to maintain an attitude of respect. When older people feel respected, they are willing to engage genuinely. They have a rich store of experiences. If they share these, many valuable insights can be gained. It is very good to find a mentor in the older generation, with whom there can be a heart to heart relationship. This will require stepping out in faith and wrestling with differences that are hard to understand. Yet it is worth it. It can open a doorway to understanding and growth that will greatly enhance our lives.

    It may be challenging to practice the love of Jesus across generations. But when we do so, the result will be great. We can genuinely love one another and learn from each other and grow together. This reveals the power of Jesus’ love. This sets our church apart from all other organizations in the world. In our society, this generational conflict is so evident and sometimes so dangerous that it threatens our future existence. But in the body of Christ, this is overcome with love and is used to work for good. This will make the people of our time sit up and take notice. We can give a good influence and give glory to our Lord Jesus.

    Though I have mentioned the generational matter in detail, there are many other aspects in which we need to grow in practicing Jesus’ love as a community. There are struggles regarding ethnicity, gender, leadership styles, ministry methods, education levels, campus affiliations, political ideologies, church government, and more. Though these are real and valid, they are not the main thing. Loving one another is the main thing. When we love one another, these struggles are opportunities to grow to maturity. I earnestly pray that more than anything else in this new year, we may love one another. As Jesus has loved us, let us love one another.

Ron Ward