Posted on February 24, 2009 - by Stephen Murray
Communal Love in Proximity
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
After reading these words my usual first reaction is to beat up on myself for not loving God’s community more each day and in more earthy practical ways. And in one sense that’s not a wrong reaction – where there’s sin there needs to be a level of ‘beating up’ – Paul says he beats his body and makes it a slave to God.
What I often miss though is that this commandment presupposes what I like to call proximity. It presupposes that Christian communities will be loving each other in front of the world – in proximity to everyone else. That means our loving is supposed to be out on the street for everyone to see and not only inside the church building where the chosen few can see. I don’t think I beat myself up enough about proximity. I don’t think I’m deliberate enough about living out love publicly. Not in a kind of ‘come and see me’ way, but in a ‘I’ve got to live a public life anyway so let me do it in love’ way. That means Christians hanging out together and loving each other publicly – public communal love (by that I don’t mean the kind of hippie free love, Woodstock vibe).
It’s like learning how to live normally all over again like everyone else – except you’re doing it in community and that community is infused by love.
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Stephen Murray
A church planter based in Cape Town. Husband to Robin and father of Genevieve. I am captivated by the hope of the gospel and I constantly dream about seeing it at work in my city. Dream with me.
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February 25, 2009
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Ant said:
Nice post, Jesus also said the world would know that we belong to Jesus by the love we have for each other. Thus mission is forged in our public “love affair” we have with each other (hmmm sounds bit dodgy!) This can have a massive impact on ministry. Youth work can benefit from this in a big way. I’m finding most teens are coming out of broken homes, single moms (with numerous boyfriends), abusive and neglected situations. Thing is, they need love more than anything. If they can experience Christian love in a family context, the redemptive ramifications for that teen can be massive! Any other ideas to foster communal love in proximity? Within a traditional church setup or a multi-site setup?
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March 9, 2009
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T. Michael Cart said:
Love, truthfully, is what it has always been about. When we are washed in the blood of Jesus, we begin to love in a way that was unknown to us previously. We begin to see people through the lens of eternity, which causes us to necessarily arrive at the overwhelming beauty and complexity of each living person, regardless of socio-econimic stature, sub-cultural minutiae, voting record, musical taste, or what ever else we would normally dislike about them.
In addition, we start to make sacrificial choices motivated by that love instead of by the promise of receiving something in return. It goes against all we’ve been taught and all that we observe in the world.
That contrast; that ridiculously improbably shift in spirit, is enough to take the hardest person and turn them into a sharp instrument for the Kingdom of God.
Love is, and always has been, the center of it all.
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March 16, 2009
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Stephen Murray said:
Ant – I guess ideas ar what missional communities are supposed to develop in their own context. The main idea is to simply get communal in our daily rhythms which are aligned to the rhythms of our various broader communities. This way we at least have the community in the face of the broader community – so that’s the proximity.