Love One Another

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We must act upon our faith by loving our community and serving others well.

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Love Your Neighbor

Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt. 22:39)

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In the end, it always comes down to this: actions still speak louder than words.

That’s not to say that the “words” of Christianity are not vitally important. The

Word of God is absolutely, unapologetically essential in defining who we are and

how salvation through Christ is revealed to mankind. But for Christianity to come

full circle—for a Christ Awakening to genuinely begin ripping through the raw

pavement of our city streets—our faith must take to the road.

Good intentions and agenda items must become hands-on activity. Physical and

relational need must be lifted away by the strong arms of applied compassion.

Until it does, we are rightly accused of keeping our answers to ourselves and not

caring who lives or dies while we’re worshipping.

God’s plan—based on purposes known only to Himself—is to use us, His fallen

but faithful servants, to be the flesh-and-blood means by which He touches a

hurting world. We need it as much as our nation does. So may our hearts cry out

for . . .

Neighborhood transformation and an accompanying

decrease of social ills through increased

expressions of “loving your neighbor” in service,

compassion, and unity.

This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love

one another. (1 John 3:11)

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Adapted from The Great Commandment Principle

by David Ferguson*

The dawn of the twenty-first century finds our world facing multiple crises.

Headlines everywhere proclaim, “AIDS Crisis Mounts”; “Teenage

Pregnancy Hits Crisis Level”; “Marriages and Families in Crisis.” Like a forest fire

whipped by fierce winds, the crises in our culture seem to get worse by the hour,

and more lives are consumed by the flames. The hurt is real. The pain is deep.

Anxiety, emptiness, disconnectedness, alienation, and aloneness reign in the

human heart. Inner turmoil surfaces in broken relationships, violence, abuse, addictions,

and suicide. The “not good” of human aloneness cries out for a solution.

Seeing People as God Sees Them —

So We Can Love Them as God Loves Them

Imagine this scene from John 9. It is a warm Sabbath day morning in Jerusalem,

and we are strolling with Jesus and His disciples. Then Jesus stops suddenly. We

approach Jesus to inquire, but we are quickly silenced by the intensity in His

eyes. Following His gaze into a shadowy corner, we discover the object of His

attention: a blind beggar huddled alone beside this teeming river of humanity.

Before the Master moves to touch the needy, blind beggar, one of the disciples

shatters the tender moment. “Master, whose sin caused this man’s blindness? Did

he do something wrong or were his parents at fault?” We are struck by the contrast.

The Master’s focus is, “How shall I minister to this poor man’s need?” while His

men are wondering, “How can we get this sinner squared away?”

Here is a significant insight into the irrelevance of the twentieth-century church:

God’s heart is captivated by human need; God’s people are too often preoccupied

with human sin. But we must not stop there. God dealt with sin for a purpose: to

restore relationships—people to God and people to people. God’s heart longs for

relationship. If we are to restore Great Commandment love to ministry, we must

enter the compassionate heart of God who is as concerned about human aloneness

as human fallenness. We must align our focus with that of the compassionate

Father who is intent on meeting people at the point of their total need. Paul boldly

declared, “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in

Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).

The God of All Comfort Has Comforted Us —

In Order that We May Comfort Others

Reaching a pain-filled world with the relevant message of the gospel requires the

compassionate heart of the Savior. Jesus’ ministry in the Gospels is an example

to every believer. While others around Him responded to situations out of fear,

judgment, or legalism, Jesus was moved with compassion and acted out of love.

The Pharisees saw the disciples picking grain on the Sabbath and condemned

them for breaking the law, but Jesus was moved with compassion because His

men were hungry. Christ’s exhortation to the Pharisees seems applicable to the

twenty-first century church: “If you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion,

and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent” (Matt.

12:7 NASB). Like Jesus, a Great Commandment church is as concerned about

the pain and aloneness people suffer as it is about their sin and fallenness.

Unbelievers who enter our doors as seekers, who occupy the office or workbench

next to ours, or who live near enough to borrow eggs and sugar often live painfilled

lives. Multitudes of the men, women, teens, and children we encounter during

the week are victims of one or more of the “plagues” of twentieth-century culture:

broken homes, physical violence, sexual abuse, addictions in the home.

Yes,

these people must eventually deal with their own sin issues in order to receive

God’s forgiveness and experience new birth. But will they be drawn to the Savior

more effectively by our condemnation of their sin or our compassion for their

pain? Christ’s example compels us to share the Good News with these people

through the doorway of compassion for them.

Ministry Beyond Our Comfort Zone

Great Commandment love cannot be limited to our comfort zone. This seems to

be God’s message to Peter in his God-ordained encounter with the “unclean”

Gentile Cornelius (see Acts 10). As certainly as the first-century church broke

through barriers of all types to minister to others, we should seek to provide a

safe place for those in need by engaging in purposeful ministry beyond our comfort

zone.

For example:

_ A suburban, college-educated congregation may take on an inner-city

ministry to unwed mothers on welfare.

_ An inner-city, ethnic congregation may seek to develop a supportive

sister-church relationship with a dissimilar ethnic fellowship.

_ A congregation comprised largely of high-tech professionals may take on

an English-teaching and day-care ministry to rural migrant families.

_ A church with a strong base of nuclear families may target the residents

of a single-parent apartment complex for compassionate ministry.

_ A blue-collar church may embrace a hospitality ministry to international

students at a nearby state university.

_ A seminary or Bible-college church may give itself to seeking out AIDS or

substance abuse victims for compassionate ministry.

Restoring Community One Relationship at a Time

As intimate relationships are established with God and within friendships, marriages,

families, and the church, both the community and the surrounding culture are positively

affected. God-honoring friendships become positive examples to children

and teens. Couples building strong marriages become mentors to newlyweds.

Troubled marriages in the community can be rescued, even reducing the divorce

rate. Families are enriched and restored to their intended place of safety and

refuge. Child abuse, violence, and teen suicides diminish. Such bold predictions

are not the result of a cultural revolution but of a restoration of biblical Great

Commandment love.

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Dr. David Ferguson, along with his wife Teresa, has authored more than twenty books, including The Great Commandment Principle with Tyndale and More Than Married with Word Publishing. Their Intimate Encounters marriage workbook is in its tenth printing. Principles of relational theology are the focus of their two newest releases: Relational Foundations and Relational Discipleship. Visit www.GreatCommandment.net or call 800-881-8008.

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Insights and Impressions

Thanksgiving

_ Thank You, Lord, that we will see neighborhood transformation as we fulfill

Your commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39).

_ Jesus, we are grateful that there will be a decrease of social ills as we

“serve one another in love” (Gal. 5:13).

_ Dear God, we appreciate that “we know that we have passed from death to

life, because we love our brothers” (1 John 3:14).

Confession

_ We are guilty at times of not seeing people as God sees them. Forgive us,

Lord, for not loving others as You love them.

_ The God of all comfort has comforted us, and yet we have often not been

good stewards. Dear God, cleanse us of our sin of not comforting others.

_ We are often not involved in ministry beyond our comfort zone. Jesus, we

repent of only reaching out to those of our own socioeconomic stratum,

ethnicity, and professional level.

_ Sometimes we doubt that restoring community one relationship at a time is

possible. Lord, change our thinking.

Petition

_ Lord, may our unity transform our community, to help “bring all things . . . on

earth together under one head, even Christ” (Eph. 1:10).

_ Dear God, might social ills decrease as we demonstrate compassion toward

the distressed and downcast as Christ did: “When he saw the crowds, he

had compassion on them” (Matt. 9:36).

_ Jesus, help us to create change in our neighborhoods through expressions

of service, just as You are among us “as one who serves” (Luke 22:26).

Prayers to Offer

Seeing People as God Sees Them

Dear God, might we witness neighborhood transformation as we carry out this

command: “Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21).

The God of All Comfort Has Comforted Us

Lord, as we practice the ministry of comfort, might we observe a decrease of

social ills in our society: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus

Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in

all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we

ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over

into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows” (2 Cor. 1: 3-5).

Ministry Beyond Our Comfort Zone

Jesus might we have the courage, like Peter, to minister beyond our comfort zone

to change the face of our community: “Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize

how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every

nation who fear him and do what is right’” (Acts 10:34-35).

Restoring Community One Relationship at a Time

Lord, might our churches bring healing to relationships at all levels in our neighborhoods,

for “the land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God;

we sought him and he has given us rest on every side” (2 Chron. 14:7).

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