Unity

The past few days, I have been in Kansas where I served as the director of a campus ministry at the University of Kansas. It was the 50th Anniversary celebration. I served there for almost half of that time.

The most enjoyable part of the weekend for me was reconnecting with alumni from my era. What struck me upon reflection is how many of us had a vast variety of life experiences since we had been together at KU; how wide the spectrum was on our views of politics and culture; and how varied were our faith journeys. Yet, with all of that variance, we were united around the fact we all loved Jesus and one another.

I talked with two people with whom I hadn’t spoken since I left. We didn’t leave on the best of terms. The circumstances surrounding my departure strained our relationships. Yet, we all showed grace toward one another, and as the Lord tells us in Isaiah 43:18, we put the former things behind us and chose not to dwell on the past. It was wonderful to have those wounds behind us and not impacting our present.

While visiting, I heard a message about loving people, especially those with whom we may vehemently disagree. The pastor described the disciples whom Jesus chose as not exactly the most homogeneous group in history. There was at least one zealot, who hated the Romans and anyone who supported them. Then you had Matthew, a tax collector that surely Simon would have despised for his complicity with the Roman oppression of the Jews. There were the sons of Zebedee, James and John, who were constantly trying to place themselves in the front of the line, ahead of the other disciples, to get more authority, recognition and power. And then there was Judas Iscariot, who was a thief and a betrayer. Imagine having to love this motley group of fallen human beings. Yet, Jesus did, and he asked the same of his disciples. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) John later repeats the essence of this numerous times in his three pastoral letters. One commentator noted that we often put doctrine/right beliefs ahead of love, just as the zealots of Jesus’ day did; thus, we can often feel justified leaving love behind when it comes to core beliefs of the faith. Or even when we disagree with others over non-doctrinal matters, we believe we are justified to remove love from the equation.

Jesus never did that. His love was always in the forefront, and he taught his disciples the same. I don’t think it is any coincidence that John talked about love 34 times in his three pastoral letters. I don’t think it is coincidence either that Peter writes about loving one another four times in his first letter. 

Christians have never been a purely homogenous group, or at least intended to be. You see the example of that in the Twelve and in the church they planted in the 1st Century. They looked different, they had varied cultural backgrounds, and many came with what would have been considered at the time as questionable pasts. Yet, at every turn they were encouraged by their leaders to love another first and foremost. 

I think the secret to this is always to keep the first thing the first thing. Jesus is always the first thing. He is the one to whom we pledge our very lives. He is the one upon whom we fix our eyes. And it is his Word that commands us to love another, as well as our enemies. 

The question we all have to ask ourselves is this: Do others see in me and through the way I live my life the love of Jesus? Or do they see something quite different? If folks will know that we are Christians by our love for our fellow human beings in the faith, that does tell us how important it is to love one another in spite of our differences. 

I think that is what we did when we came together after so many years to celebrate what the Lord had done in our lives through a campus ministry. We didn’t agree on everything; we didn’t have to. What we needed to do was love each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, and we did. If only we could do it more consistently throughout the Church, what a testimony and a draw that would be to the unbelievers in our world.

© Jim Musser 2021 All Scripture references are from the New International Version, 2011