Dave’s Monday Blast – October 22, 2018
“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35). Do you feel the love within our culture…or a lack thereof? When love is absent, all else is empty, and our words are without value. (1 Corinthians 13). In his booklet “The Mark of a Christian” based upon John 13:35, theologian Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer wrote: “Our love will not be perfect, but it must be substantial enough for the world to be able to observe or it does not fit into the structure of the verses in John 13 and 17. And if the world does not observe this among Christians, the world has a right to make the two awful judgments which these verses indicate: that we are not Christians and that Christ was not sent by the Father…Love then…is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world.”
Your very grasp of God’s Word has no worth if love is not present. Your discipleship can be called into question by the very world we are trying to influence if love is missing from all we say and do. It all has no value without God’s agape (sacrificial and unconditional) love at work in your life. This reminds me of a comment I read recently from Jeff Bezos (Amazon), now the world’s richest man; he told to the Economic Club of Washington D.C. last month: “The number one thing that has made us successful, by far, is obsessive-compulsive focus on the customer as opposed to obsession over the competitor.”
This is a fascinating window into our culture. Why does such a customer-centric business model work so well? Pastor Jim Denison asks us to consider two factors, both of which relate directly to the Church today:
1. Americans are conditioned to think like consumers. As Bezos notes, “We will always want low prices, fast delivery, and large selection. And we will reward companies that deliver them to us.” Likewise, churches that tell us what we want to hear will gain a hearing today.
2. Our culture is more cocooned than ever. Shopping in a mall is a communal experience, as is attending a movie in a theater, a concert in a music hall, and a worship service in a church building. But consumerism seems to be defeating community. We can now shop from home for EVERYTHING, listen to concerts on our cell phones, and go to “church” online.
But a podcast can’t visit us in the hospital. And pastors who tell us what we want to hear may not tell us what we need to hear.
Next week I want to continue this discussion about turning from a culture of consumerism to one of community where the love of Christ can be on display as He intended.
