I Challenge You, Two.

Christian, what is God's greatest commandment?

To love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. I doubt that any Christian would ever question the first commandment. I think every Christian would agree that we are to love God. Wholeheartedly. Forever. And I believe that most Christians would say they love their neighbors. They donate. They volunteer. They contribute. But I want you, Christian Brother or Sister, to take a deeper look.

The exact words of this commandment from the Bible (from three different translations) are:

          "A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (NLT)
          "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (KJV)
          "And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (NIV)

My challenge is this: Are there any qualifications as to which neighbor you are supposed to love?

I see none. I see no exceptions to "love thy neighbor." Do you? There is nothing in the commandment that indicates we should hate our transsexual neighbor, our Black neighbor, our White neighbor, our gay neighbor, or any other neighbor. I see no indication that we should only love our neighbors who live like we do, think like we do, or act like we do. None. Do you?

When Jesus spoke these words, he gave no qualifiers. If the God of the universe says we are to love our neighbor and doesn't limit which neighbor to love, how on earth can we humans justify limiting which neighbors we love? People do not have to pass a theological litmus test to be our neighbors, to be loved! That's what God says: Love every neighbor.

What about those with whom we disagree? Do we have to love them?  Of course we do. Jesus said to love our neighbor. No qualifiers. None. So, yes, we have to love those on the opposing sides of disagreements. Loving them doesn't mean agreeing with them. This is the greatest piece of my challenge to you, Christian.

God hates sin. Jesus hated the sin he saw in his neighbors that He loved. But Jesus loved the sinners. God has very clear boundaries about sin, and He hates every border crossing that we make. But Jesus Himself is proof to His followers that God loves the sinners. Romans 5:8 makes this crystal clear: "...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

So, Christian, I challenge you to dig deep into yourself and ask if you are behaving in a loving way to your neighbors. All of your neighbors. Are you loving your neighbors who demonstrate your pet peeve of sins? Are you loving your neighbors without exception? It is not our job to judge, it is our job to love.

So, love, Christian, love. Love deeply, completely, generously, and without exception. And when you have a conflict with someone, disagree with love. Treat your opponent with love. Respond with love. Not agreement. Not conciliation without regard to your own beliefs. But with love because that's what Jesus told us to do.