Treat Them as Jesus Treated Them

The discussion centers around love…

we should be loving to all people because Jesus was always loving to all people.

But this isn’t true… Jesus was not loving to all people while He was here.

It is true He loved them, and died for them

but He did not always treat them “lov – e – dove – e”.

Take for instance the Gospel of John – chapters 5-9, the people do not like what He is saying to them, and it enraged them to the point they wanted to kill Him.

He tells them…

you are not listening to Me

you are not accepting what I am saying

you serve your father the devil

ummm… these words do not fit into the realm of “2012’s outreach friendly words of love”

but He was trying to reach them… the text is clear on that.

How about the two times He cleared the temple…

with a whip

was that a hate crime?

was it lov-e dove -e?

no to both

but

He did love the people He was driving out of the temple

and made a strong point while He was doing it.

Maybe reaching people for Jesus has something to do with standing for truth…

Maybe reaching people not only includes acts of kindness to our community but also statements of truth as well.

Maybe standing firm against sin is a witness of God’s Holiness.

I’m not saying we all should pick up our whips and go at it. Or intentionally say things to enrage people.

I am saying that Jesus… with some of the things He said and did would be accused of hate crimes if it had happened in 2012

and we all know that isn’t true of Jesus, He is not capable of any type of crime.

There is a difference between true love and being “lov- e – dov – e”

The people that listened to Jesus were treated one way by Him,

the people who refused to listen were treated another way

and both camps were loved by Him…

so much so He died for both so that all may come to salvation…

and exchange their sinfulness for…

life

But the exchange is up to them to accept, if they reject it… it’s because of their own stubbornness

a stubbornness that blinds them to who Jesus really is and blinds them from knowing what love is all about.