Where's the love?

I read a lot of blogs, as you know. My favorite ones are about Christian culture. I like to read viewpoints on both sides of the spectrum: from the strict KJV only evangelical, to the "Church is a stinking mess but I still love Jesus" believers. I don't necessarily agree with either of them, but I like to know what the extremes are thinking so I can balance the ideas out and end up somewhere in the middle.

But lately, I've been noticing a harsh truth that I can find on either side. There is a lack of love for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

The fundamental, evangelical camp likes their pedestal of "rightness". Follow their guidelines for Christian living and politics, and they'll leave you alone. Interpret something differently and you're not a "true believer". There is a lot of loving self.

On the other side, you'll find a lot of "loving others." Love the liberals, the drug addicts, the homosexuals and the "big" sinners. But it's okay to lambaste the fundies. It's okay to spew venom about them because the organized church is to blame for everything that is wrong in America and in your life today.

Now, I get frustration with the opposition. At different points in my life I have fallen into either category. I get wondering at the logic of another's opinion. I even get seeing sin and needing to blog about it.

But I don't get the venom.

There is downright hatred among believers today. Believers! These are people that will be spending eternity together that can't get along in the present. They claim to love Jesus but clearly don't love his followers. So they judge, they belittle, they demonize and find verses to back up their opinions. And all the while the Bride of Christ is wounding itself.

I know I'm not above it. I'm sure if I read back through a lot of my posts here, I'd find some things that I could word differently or soften. It's easy to get caught up in the fire of feeling like your opinion is right. But over and over lately, I've seen the deep bitterness that resides in some Christians' hearts toward their own family. And some valid points are lost in the poison of hatred and hypocrisy.

Jesus came to defeat sin. He paid the price with his blood on the cross. He is the only reason that any of us are headed for something good. We can't keep expecting perfection from saved sinners. The same grace that Jesus offers to us, even in light of our miserable self-inflicted messes, we need to extend that to other believers. Being bought with the blood of Jesus doesn't mean we're perfect here on earth. It just means that Jesus is perfect and that we have the power to change into something better through the work of the Holy Spirit.

So, I can hate legalism. But I must love legalists.

I can speak out against errors, but I can't judge the one who errs.

Grace is for believers too.

We need to be a people marked by love, because we more than any others have been touched by true love. Not just a love that draws people to the cross, but love that forgives and stands by the ones who are already gathered there. If we're busy spewing poison about people we feel are wrong, the issues will never be dealt with and the errors never corrected. We'll just end up building walls between each other or beating our own brothers and sisters to the ground with our own perceived holiness.

Jesus loves us unconditionally. And that's the way he expects his followers to love.

"By this, all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves." Romans 12:10

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." Ephesians 4:2

"Anyone who claims to be in the light, but hates his brother, is still in the darkness." 1 John 2:9