Understanding our trade language, and what we should trade it for: Part 3

March 13, 2009

Getting to the heart of it… (Continued from Part 1 and Part 2)

So if our trade language is (metaphorically) our consumerism in a broad sense, our heart language will come as no surprise… our heart language is love, in a narrow sense. What will speak the deepest to a culture consumed and consuming is sacrificial love; how appropriate, then, that sacrifice is how God chose to usher his Kingdom into this world? It is the core of our faith– that when God sent his Son, he came not as a king or military leader, but as a man of humble beginnings who would cause spiritual upheaval and, in the end, give his life for ours. And this is what Jesus expected from us, as well: “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

That quote comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 15, in the midst of a conversation Jesus was having about our relationship with God and our relationship with the world around us. But will sacrificial love cut through the noise of everyday life, catch the attention of our friends and family, and encourage them to seek God as we do? The simple answer is, yes. When someone… whether it was me walking into a youth meeting fourteen years ago or someone who you will share a meal with later today… if they see a community,  friends, spouses, etc., truly loving each other sacrificially, they will take notice. Later in the Gospel of John we see this pattern laid out in Jesus’ prayer: “May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.”

The hard part is that this sounds easier than it is. So many things about our culture influence us to speak a shallower and far safer language to each other–certainly inter-personally, let alone on an organizational scale. It is one thing to believe that we love each other; it is another to live out sacrificial love on a day-to-day basis. I don’t think most Christ-followers get it. I am pretty sure I don’t get it. Nonetheless, it is possible, and we have the best possible example to follow.

In my next posts in this series I hope to explore the languages the church uses to communicate, and how all this plays out on a practical level.

Posted in Worship Leadership