Modeling Jesus

2007-05-17

Recently in class, we had an exercise, where we looked at Jesus Christ’s words and works in the Gospel in Matthew. We were to answer the following question, “If we’re not exhibiting such and such a characteristic that Jesus demonstrated, what is it about God that we still do not understand or believe?” This process works for just about any communicable attribute of God.

Think about this as an example: If we do not selflessly love others, what is it about God that we do not understand or believe? We do not realize that at the forefront of Jesus’ commands was to love others. The reality that abiding in Christ is inextricably linked to loving other people has escaped us. Jesus Christ died for us who were alienated from God. He initiated it wholly as a sacrificial act. This is the epitome of love.

Yet, though we understand that Jesus died for the sins of the world, we do not selflessly love others. We have established that there is some sort of discrepancy between His selfless love and our lack of love... is it possible that we desire to love others sacrificially, but do not anyway? Potentially, there could be fear that keeps us from doing so: fear from being hurt if they reject us. But Jesus loved people who rejected Him. Therefore, we are still looking at relationships from an egocentric, and not a God-centered point of view. We still ask the questions pertaining to relationships like “What’s in it for me?” or “How can I go through this unscathed?” Relationships and loving others often involves suffering, as our Lord knows very well. It is lying down one’s rights and one’s own soul for the sake of others. John writes in his gospel, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (15:13). Again, he writes in his first epistle, “There is no fear in love” (4:18), and we must trust God that He will conform us to the image of His Son, who loved others with no strings attached, knowing that rejection can and will happen at times.