\n<\/p>\n
I\u00a0can\u00a0still recall a conversation I had many years ago while I was still on the faculty at\u00a0Westminster\u00a0Theological\u00a0Seminary. A\u00a0recent\u00a0graduate came back to visit the campus and felt strongly that he needed to let me know, in no uncertain terms, how I had failed him in his\u00a0preparation\u00a0for gospel\u00a0ministry.<\/p>\n
He was a pastor now, for several months, and was called by God to \u201ccontend for the gospel,\u201d which is sort of code for\u00a0pursuing\u00a0debate with fellow pastors, elders, and congregants to make sure the appropriate level of precise theological orthodoxy was\u00a0being\u00a0maintained.<\/p>\n
My own teaching style and theology were not oriented toward training polemicists. I was more interested in exploring\u00a0the\u00a0Bible with my students and encouraging them to let the Lord surprise them through a careful and alert reading of the text\u2013wherever that would lead.<\/p>\n
You can see where this was going. My style\u00a0was the very problem for this student, who took the time to seek me out and let me know. He became quite belligerent\u2013even a tad\u00a0condescending. I asked him to consider whether the Bible might have a thing or two to say about whether contending and debating without ceasing<\/a> was the best way to spend one\u2019s life in\u00a0service\u00a0to God\u2019s people.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about love?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n \u201cLove!?\u201d he answered, \u201cThat\u2019s what the liberals told Machen\u201d [J. Gresham Machen founded\u00a0Westminster\u00a0Seminary in 1929 in opposition to liberal influence, and he was quite\u00a0contentious\u00a0in doing so, which has served as a model of\u00a0ministry\u00a0for many in that tradition.]\n<\/p>\n That brief exchange has come to mind a lot over the years. To live in a near constant state of theological\u00a0vigilance, ready to strike down a brother or sister for (perceived) theological failings seemed not only a\u00a0colossal\u00a0waste of the one life God has given us, but at odds with what the Bible makes a big deal of.<\/p>\n Which brings me to my most frightening verse \u2013actually two\u20131 John 4:7-8:<\/p>\n Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.\u00a0Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.<\/em><\/p>\n This verse frightens me because when I think of that student it does not take long before I realize that I am looking at myself. I am prone to fall into the same patterns of this young, deeply troubled, student I last saw a dozen or so years ago. Hey, I\u2019m a type A, German, analytical, intellectual guy. Bow before me as I conquer the universe.<\/p>\n This verse is followed by another in v. 12 that drives the point home even further:<\/p>\n No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.<\/em><\/p>\n I am tempted to insert \u201cbut\u201d after the semi-colon, even though there isn\u2019t one in the Greek. Still, I think the same point holds either way:<\/p>\n I know the Bible sometimes makes absolute-sounding statements when something less\u00a0threatening\u00a0would do. I\u2019m just not sure if this is one of those places. This actually sounds pretty foundational, especially since it\u2019s hardly a minor theme in the New Testament.<\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s what\u2019s\u00a0frightening:<\/p>\n What if this is one of those verses we are supposed to take literally?<\/p>\n And what happens if we do\u00a0not<\/em> love one another? Then what?<\/p>\n Don\u2019t get me wrong. I\u2019m not saying Christians should never disagree\u00a0or exchange sharp words when needed. But\u2026 1 John, and that conversation years ago, keep\u00a0hanging\u00a0around in the back of my head.<\/p>\n What if all that love business is as true and serious as it seems to be?<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe\u00a0closest\u00a0we ever get to seeing God is when we love one another, for that is when God lives in us.<\/em><\/h2>\n