Love, in my opinion, must stir one or more actions. I seriously don't believe love can lie dormant, known intellectually but zero action on the outside. My husband loved me and he showed that through the action of marrying me. He sometimes does the dishes for me after dinner and says I must relax and rest a little. Some days we get take aways because he thinks I did too much laundry and house making, I must be off cooking. Among all this though, when he really wants to say something, he gets me a pair of shoes or a dress. He knows that's the language I speak very fluently. If that is not 'I love you' in action, then I have strange understanding.
So if we love Jesus, how come we don't give sufficient action? I mean, it speaks to Him that we pray, study our Bibles, raise well mannered children and all, but does it occur to us that the language that He speaks fluently is having compassion on lost humanity? Wasn't He the one who said, "I have come to seek and save that which was lost." Compassion is a deep kind of love that churns our hearts and propels an action. Do we practice it with those we interact on a daily basis? Everyone you meet is your neighbour according to Christ. Jesus said "Love one another as I have loved you." In another place He also says, "Love your neighbour as yourself." He came into this world because He loved us. Jesus loved us so much that He could not bear the thought of losing us eternally. His love propelled Him to the action of dying on the cross for our transgressions. He denied Himself so much that we may be saved. His love was not in words only, selfless action followed. Does it fly across your mind right now that Jesus knew some will reject Him but He died anyway? That we enjoy sin because of our fallen nature but He died still? That every detail was out on the table but that did not stop Him from dying? When He commands us to love each other as He has loved us, should we not be propelled into love in action for our neighbours?
Just like Jesus, some of our neighbours will reject our compassion. That's fine. Extend it anyway. Some of them will not say thank you, love them anyway. Some will even point out how you could have given them something better or more, irritating as it may be, retain your calm. Your reason is not rooted in their response but in obedience to Christ. Love them anyway.
We are often influenced to view our neighbours using many different lenses. We develop these over time through various factors. Let's just look at a few:
1) Cultural roots - Tribalism and xenophobia lead the pack here. We are mostly biased to like or dislike people based on what tribe they belong to. Sadly, this does not exclude Christians, they just have a good way of hiding it. We make assumptions and draw conclusions about a certain tribe of people because of our once-in-a-lifetime bad encounter with someone of their culture. I remember, a few years ago as I was going through my Facebook Newsfeed, I saw a whole thread where a Christian had written a status about how foreigners are flooding South Africa. While shocked at the status, I was even more shocked by the responses. The rage that was projected towards foreigners and the resounding, "They must go back to their countries," I was never ready for. So creating this worldview is not anything foreign, we know it all too well.
2) Racial experience - In a country like South Africa, where the nation suffered years of pain from the apartheid era, racism lives. Surprisingly, black people sometimes practice reverse apartheid and think it is okay because they once suffered under the apartheid government that destroyed black people. On the other end of the spectrum you have white people who still feel the country was better run when they were in power and had all the power. Such an experience is why we find people today who want absolutely nothing to do with a different race. They have closed their minds and focused solely on the bad history and refuse to move out of that pain. Let me come out and ask, why do you think in South Africa, the Seventh Day Adventist church has been losing Afrikaaner members? I'll tell you that part of the reason is simply the racial experience. And I'm not out here downplaying any feelings, but asking if the neighbour against whom you have this racial segregation, is truly guilty of something or suffering from your view of them? And if they are guilty, is forgiveness not an option?
