A comment made on my first post here brought out something that needs to be addressed right here at the beginning. It is the question of “simple” vs.” easy.” Let me say the two are not synonymous. By looking at the classic Webster dictionary the differences become very clear.
It defines EASY as a :causing or involving little difficulty or discomfort b : requiring or indicating little effort, thought, or reflection
While SIMPLE is defined as a : the state of being simple, uncomplicated, or uncompounded b : concise, clear c : free of secondary complications.
In these we can see that the two terms are not to be considered interchangeable. The life we live as followers of Jesus was never defined as easy, by Him or any other writer in scripture. In fact, just the opposite is true. We are told that the life of a follower of Jesus will be filled with difficulty and/or discomfort and that it will require struggling with our thoughts and reflections.
The words Jesus uses to reply to the question of the “Greatest Commandment” in Matthew 22 and Mark 12 and by a teacher of the law in Luke 10 is quoted from Deuteronomy 6 and is based in RELATIONSHIPS. The greatest commandment is not a sacrifice we can bring, or a duty we can perform, but is centered in the relationship we can have with God almighty and the people he places in our lives. THIS IS ANYTHING BUT EASY, BUT IT IS CONCISE, CLEAR AND FREE OF SECONDARY COMPLICATIONS.
Jesus spent much of His life and teaching endeavoring to untangle the complicated mess of religion that generations of people had created. I believe we find ourselves in a similar place in the 21 century.
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The question that always arises is "how do I love someone when I can't even like them?" As you pointed out it's all about relationship and in this case it is very difficult to love if your relationship with Christ is not properly aligned. The stumbling block is exactly that. All to often we focus on the second "Love your neighbor as yourself" when in fact the 2 commandments are unified. Your horizontal relationships will be off if your vertical relationship is off. This reminds me of a series I am teaching on the Seven church's, specifically the church at Ephesus who left their first love (Jesus & one another) in favor of their doctrine. At some point religion became more important to them then relationship. I agree that we are in a similarly dangerous situation today as well.
ReplyDeleteI would suggest that it is not only "difficult", it is impossible to love your enemies without the perfect love that finds its source in God through Christ!!
ReplyDeleteThe two commands are not mutually exclusive. In fact, when Jesus answers the question, "what is the Greatest command?" He says, "Love the Lord your God.........." and the second is like it, "Love your neighbor as yourself".
Is He saying that this one is the second most important? or is He saying that there are 2 that are just as important as the other?
1 John 4 says, "If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen."
you cannot have one without the other.