He's Just Not That Into You: Part 2

We've been thinking about this peculiar phenomenon that has surfaced in the US Church since we "rediscovered" God is love (and selfishness is spiritual.) It has become a sort of fashion statement to express solidarity with all kinds of sinful human beings. Trendy believers take pride in their ability to love Islamic terrorists; to sympathize with condemned serial killers; to laugh heartily at blasphemous jokes from jaded Hollywood celebrities.

It seems we can supernaturally love anybody in the world except some of our fellow saints in the Church of Jesus Christ. For those who are more conservative than us- or more liberal than us- or less sophisticated than us, it seems we have absolutely no milk of human kindness. This is all the more frustrating when we recall that Christ explained the way the world would know us would be through our love for one another. Loving other Christians- even the ones different from me- is the trademark that proves I belong to Christ.

You know the drill: Jesus loves the whole sinful world, but He's just not that into you. That must be why I am excused from loving you.

• We envision reaching the whole world with the amazing love of Christ, but our outreach committee is locked in battle over how to spend the $1,000 advertising budget.
• I constantly point to the gentle way Jesus dealt with sinners, but I can't say a kind word about one of our ministers who doesn't share my take on Reformed Theology.
• I am convinced that I would gladly be burned at the stake in order to advance the Gospel, but I am completely unwilling to apologize to another church member who was offended by a remark I made in passing.

Just think how much more exciting the Spanish Inquisition could have been had Torquemada been able to use e-mail. Religious rumors, gossip, and out of context comments could have spread faster than the speed of light. And just think how many more fanatics could have been enflamed by Facebook rants! Today we fire off passionate messages via e-mail and press the "Send" button without ever weighing our words or the impact they could have if misunderstood or read with the wrong inflection. I have a feeling that online communication has probably increased anger and division in most churches by 20% or more!

I cringe when I hear concerned church friends begin a sentence with "Bless her heart,..." because it promises to finish with something like "she couldn't shut her mouth if you held her at gunpoint!" The love of Christ takes no delight in heaping scorn on brothers and sisters, even when the insult in framed as a faux-blessing.

You and I can't fix the whole church. But I can work on me. And you can work on you. And when we're together, we can hold each other accountable for living for Christ and loving his peeps. Just a thought...