Christian Living

Living from Christ in a world gone crazy is our quest

by Lorraine Taylor
06/29/20
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I often hear it said by Christians that early believers in biblical times had some sort of idyllic 'church' and this is far from the truth.

Humans are humans, and just like individuals in the body of Christ today encounter conflicts, so did early believers.

The apostle Paul wrote many letters to address these issues in pointing them out and to offer solutions. Paul was not one to sweep these conflicts under the rug as he knew not treating them only resulted in divisions, separations, and individualistic mores.

One of the letters Paul wrote that we read in scriptures written is 1 Corinthians.

The purpose of this letter was to emphasize that for the believer, the key to life and healthy relationships was to live from the supplied love-life of Christ.

"Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won't be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose." 1 Corinthians 1:10

It is one thing to speak of unity in a fellowship or with others, but it is a radical call in living out a faith that binds us in this lifestyle where we are in accord with one another. This concept of being in harmony or an agreement with others does not deny diversity, nor does it demand everyone to be cloned.

Paul gives evidence in chapter 12 of the Corinthians' lack of love, defines love in chapter 13, and shows how love works in section 14.

One of the significant themes Paul addressed was that this church placed an inordinate favor on spiritual gifts where some people were valued as 'less' than or 'more' then regarding their importance and inherent worth.

For Paul, to live from Christ-love confronted the individualistic idea that God loved some more or less than others based on spiritual gifts. His view was these gifts were given for the benefit of the body or the community in which one gathered.  

For one who professes Christ, the type of love Paul was speaking about was one that flowed from a union in Christ that resulted in an another-centered radical love.

This anti-selfish love goes against human beings' natural inclination to assert individual 'rights' in self-centered ways.

The message for us today is that the spiritual gifts you and I have been given are not so we can become puffed up or boast in them. They are provided for the sole purpose of building up, edifying and strengthening other believers and the wider body of Christ.

The ultimate objectives are so that we can together, as a larger body, fulfill God's vision and God's goals in whatever 'group,' 'church' or fellowship we gather with.

We can misunderstand this type of love if we are not in a group or gathering of those who live in this other-centered lifestyle that results from a relational and intimate union in Christ.

This other-worldly love is the activity of God in us, and a by-product of our union in Christ that flows from an inside-out direction.

Learning to live in an other-worldly perspective requires me to draw from the very source of the supplied love-life of Jesus, whose love is life.

Reading scriptures is one thing, but living as the gospel gives power is the real-deal, bare to the bone's radical being in this outwardly giving of oneself to others.

It is when we learn to 'confront' one another in a sincere attitude of love, challenging our self and others to value, respect, and honor each one as necessary members of the community.

Paul's appeal stands for us to recognize spiritual gifts are given for the betterment and benefit of the whole group, the entire body or the church, and is to fulfill God's vision.

To get his message across, he used the human body as an example of how the Christian community is to operate in one accord. This does not deny the uniqueness in each person, but it is in working together that it becomes necessary to carry out God's plans.

The more considerable implication of this love-message is that it is in the community where we obtain this unified vision where they are on the same page seeking what is best for the 'group.'

According to Paul, our human body works as a unified whole, not one part is more significant or less important than another. Not one piece is valued or treated as 'less' than or 'more' than another. It requires our entire body to work as one unit of a whole to function and navigate in this world and to carry out necessary tasks.

The same idea is to be applied practically to whatever group we fellowship and commit ourselves in.

We all have spiritual gifts in Christ. These are meant for us to live out in real-time and within our relationships in a community based on this foundational radical God-love.

If we live in Christ and our thoughts and hearts are being renewed and refreshed daily by His love-life and the source in which we live from is God's love than how than shall you and I live in our relationships and in our Christian communities?

God's love is radical all-inclusive love and does not differentiate or give preference to some and dismiss others as not valued or not important.

God's love does not give praises or idolize those 'deemed' more spiritual such as pastors, leaders, teachers, worship leaders, authors, speakers, or 'titled' professionals and reject others in the same body as being 'less' valued.

God's love has been deposited, imparted inside us, and it is when we live from this sufficient source of love, we gain glimpses of how powerful love becomes when lived with others in vulnerability and humility.

Jesus Christ lived as an authentic human, valuing, and treating all people in the same manner.

Value love is what we humans can understand as opposed to this unconditional love that is God.

As an individual, I can recognize and appropriate the valuing of each person, meeting them right where they are, whether they are a Harvard graduate or whether they are homeless.

In this letter, Paul is pleading with these believers and us today to not separate or divide individuals into categories of our own making where we deem some more valuable and more important than others.

We are not to think or believe another is more loved by God due to some gift or attribute of that person.

God loves you and me in the same manner and with the equal value and worth as he did Billy Graham and the hall of fame believers listed in chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews.

No person is viewed as not necessary or 'less' loved in God's realm of holy love.

God's love has included and embraced every human being in his redemptive plan to reconcile each one to a divine and supernatural love - no exceptions.

God's love is not based on who 'appears' more spiritual than another.

God's love is offered to all and not based on what one does or does not do and cannot be measured by the human perspective.

So, it is this love we are to demonstrate and live out in this other-centered, and other-worldly way of being in our relational interactions and in our Christian gatherings.

God's lavish and unrestrained love is for believers and non-believers alike.

God's love is not contained within the walls of any building or community called 'the church.'

God's manifested gift of love becomes expressed, conveyed, and liberally poured out when we live from his passion in our personal relationships within our faith communities.

This love is powerfully demonstrated in the way we speak to others in our tone, our manner, and our thoughtfulness.

An authentic Christ-love flows from our attitudes and mindsets. Treating others with sincere motivations, and in the same manner, is how we live from this inside-out supplied life of the love-union of the Triune Godhead; Christ, Father, and Holy Spirit.

You and I can be part of the problem when conflicts exist, or you and I can choose to be part of the solution.

How we promote love in valuing and influencing others is that we learn to pay attention, sensitively noticing another and not focusing inward upon our self.

We learn to dwell in heavenly mindsets, allowing God's love to continually renew our thoughts, hearts, and actions.

As believers, living from this radical love is the power that effects change individually and then ripples in transforming a community in relating to and with one another from the divine source of Christ as our holy way of being.