Love One Another | Advent | Week 1

Love One AnotherThrough • November 26, 2023Teacher: Dave Brown-- Truly He Taught Us to Love One AnotherJohn 13:34-35 NIVA 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.David KinnamanOne crucial insight kept popping up in our exploration.  In studying thousands of outsiders’ impressions, it is clear that Christians are primarily perceived for what they stand against.  We have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for.UnchristianChristianity has become bloated with blind followers who would rather repeat slogans than actually feel true compassion and care.  Christianity has become marketed and streamlined into a juggernaut of fear mongering that has lost its own heart.UnchristianMost people I meet assume that Christian means very conservative, entrenched in their thinking, antigay, antichoice, angry, violent, illogical, empire builders; they want to convert everyone, and they generally cannot live peacefully with anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe.1. Evangelicals care more about being right, than they care about acting right.2. They spend more time caring about what a person believes, then they spend caring for the person.3. They are often more indoctrinated than they are biblically literate.How do we go about loving one another?Our love for one another must look like Jesus’ love for us.Jesus’ love was humble.Rick WarrenHumility is not thinking less of yourself; It is thinking of yourself less.N.T. WrightAt the heart of Christian ethic is humility; at the heart of its parodies, pride. Different roads with different destinations, and the destinations color the character of those who travel by them.Jesus’ love was other focused.American Christianity is consumer focused. In this way, it is me focused.Eugene PetersonIf people are not satisfied, we’ll find a way to woo them back with better publicity and glossier advertising.  We’ll repackage church under fresh brand names.  Since Americans are the world’s champion consumers, let’s offer the gospel on consumer terms, reinterpreting it as a way to satisfy their addiction to More and Better and Sexier.  The huge irony is that the more the gospel is offered in consumer terms, the more the consumers are disappointed. The gospel is not a consumer product; it doesn’t satisfy what we think of as our “needs.”