I have spent the last month and a half diving deeper into my relationship with Christ! For the first time in my life I am in the Word daily, am developing a more intimate prayer life, and have been seeking out any way to learn more about what in means to be a child of The King!
Throughout this process He has revealed many things to me. One of the most recent things I am being shown is how ALL TRUE Christianity is Radical Christianity! So let’s talk about it.
First, let’s establish what Christianity is supposed to be:
The Oxford dictionary defines it as, “the religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices.”
Cool, let’s start here! What are the teachings of Christ?
In Mark 12 Jesus is asked which commandment is most important and he responds, “…And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Now, if you grew up in the church or have spent much time there you (like me) have probably become numb to what this verse says. But really look at it! Jesus starts by saying love God with ALL your heart, soul, mind, and strengths.
That means every day
Every moment
Every situation
You love with ALL your thoughts, emotions, demeanor, actions, writings, perceptions, physical abilities… EVERYTHING IN YOU!
Have you ever done this? Have you ever even tried?
But he doesn’t stop there, he also says to love your neighbor as yourself. What does that even mean?
In John 13:34-35 he says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Do you you know how Jesus loved?
In John 3:16-17 he says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that that the world might be saved through him.”
This is another verse you may need to really look at again. God, the creator of the universe, so loved the world (the disobedient, defiant sinners) that he sent his own Son. He gave his son to live as a man, live a perfect life. To then be tempted and tried and when he remained perfect to be sacrificed. In the most brutal, humiliating, demeaning way possible. For MY sin, for YOUR sin, so that we may have eternal life!
Wow! And this is the love he is calling us to show our neighbor. But who even is our neighbor?
It’s not just your family, friends, or even the people who live and do life near you.
In Romans 12 Paul says, “…if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink…”
That’s right you are called to love your enemy, that person that annoys you, those who mean you harm. And this does not mean tolerate them but love them as Jesus loved!
This is what it means to be a Christian! This is the standard we are called to! This is Radical!
And if you have anymore doubts, I encourage you to read Revelation 3:14-22
