Christian service “is motivated by God’s holy-love,” wrote David Wells in his blog.
Mr. Wells explains that this Holy-Love is a composite or fullness of the Attributes of G-D. He uses the analogy of a prism that breaks out light into its various prime colors, so Holy-Love is broken out into the aspects of G-D’s being.
“The God who “is love” (1 John 4:8) is always, everywhere, and at the same time, the God who is a “consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29) and the One who is “light” (1 John 1:5). When we meet God, we meet Him in the wholeness of His character. His judgment, for example, is always preceded by His patience. It is always shadowed by His mercy. His love, in its bond with what is true and right, always accompanies, is always a part of, His holiness.”
It seems clear Mr. Wells is differentiating the prevailing notion that “G-D is Love” from the truth of what G-D’s love actually means. He calls it Holy-Love as to be absolutely clear. How many times have we heard the false logic stated something like: “God is love. God won’t all us to be punished. We are all “saved” by a loving God.”
“Christian service is about how our redemption in Christ comes into flower in this world. It is what puts hands and feet and lips to God’s holy-love. Once we had as our life’s goal only ourselves. Our self-interest defined our worldview. Now this has changed. Now we are living a new kind of existence (2 Cor. 5:17). It is not one that is self-focused but one that is God-centered, not one that is self-pleasing but one that is open to others. And it is God’s holy-love that motivates this new direction even as it is Christ’s death that makes it possible,” wrote Mr. Wells.
“In this sense, everyone who belongs to Christ is an outpost of eternity in this world. God calls His people so to live, so to serve, that they are themselves the evidence that the age to come is already dawning. That evidence is the presence of holy-love,” wrote Mr. Wells.
We are not all alike. We come to know Messiah Yeshua from various backgrounds. Our personalities differ. Our appearance differs. We come to a Fraternity of the Faithful, we become brothers and sisters in Messiah. While we are citizens of Messiah’s Heavenly Reign, we are also Family. We are brought into the Family of G-D. Grafted into Israel, as it has been stated.
In his article, The Cause of Christ, Glenn Davis wrote about the personality differences between Believers.
“Some people are loud and forward, others are quiet and retiring. It makes no difference to your commitment to the cause. Jesus Christ designed YOU for this time of history. He will call you from your comfort zone, but He is not going to require anything from you that He has not already given you. There are all types of assignments leading toward to ultimate goal. Elijah was confrontational with the wicked king Ahab, but Obadiah [1 Kings 18:3-4] was “undercover” and worked within the system. Both were necessary. Both required courage. We should never despise someone working for the victory of the cause of Christ in a different way as long as they are not in violation of the Word of God.”
I believe Mr. Davis makes an important point when he wrote that “we should never despise someone working for the victory of the cause of Christ in a different way as long as they are not in violation of he Word of God.”
Recently, on some blog, I inferred that certain outcries agains various sins by individuals made Christians look bad. The author seemed to be saying that we should all be more moderate in our approach to others, more tolerant. I believe the author even said that this behavior made us all look intolerant. I admit, there are street preachers that are really out there. Signs held high. Megaphones blaring. Yet I can see in them the modern-day John the Baptist crying out against the sins of Israel. If I judge a person’s ministry based on my personality type—much more reserved—then I’m also saying that there was something wrong with Yeshua’s display of zeal when He drove people from the Temple Court. With A Whip.
We face difficult times today, and more to come. We face difficult decisions. If we have not yet, we all will. And there are certainly times in which we are called not to directly engage in confrontation. I believe in our zeal we can be goaded into reacting, and in doing so perhaps we do “make us all appear badly.” Then again there are those times in which we must, Simply Must, stand up and say, “NO! That is Wrong!”
I suppose the best advice on how to handle ourselves is to follow the lead of Yeshua:
I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. John 14:31
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