Brotherly Love

As this lesson will demonstrate, love between Christians is a life style which God often emphasizes. It is even something which is supposed to distinguish us from other religious groups 'By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another' (John 13:35). But all too often we fall into the trap of dislike, jealousy, resentment and so on. Paul warned the Galatians, 'But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another' (Galatians 5:15). The contrast is clear. We can either serve each other, and hence seek to conserve and preserve each other, or we can serve ourselves, allow wrong attitudes to dominate our life (5:19-21), and in the process tear each other down.

Let it be noted that every human group, organization, religious and non religious falls prey to Galatians 5:15. Conservatives, liberals, democrats, republicans.often spend their time attacking members of their own party. There exists no group which is immune from bickering, gossip, envy, and turmoil (Titus 3:3).

There are certainly some things that make it a little bit harder for Christians to avoid internal strife than other groups:

1. We are commanded to expose sin (Ephesians 5:11), error must be opposed (Galatians 2:4), many false teachers will exist and some will try to infiltrate the Church (Matthew 7:15-16).

2. We have an obligation to warn those who are flirting with sin, we have an obligation to try to reach those who are in error(Ezekiel 3:18-21; Matthew 18:15). 3. There are times when we can't delay, when error or sin must be immediately dealt with (Jude 23).

4. No man or woman in the Church is above rebuke (Galatians 2:11; 1 Timothy 5:19-20).

5. In one sense, we have to be a little tough on the outside, for we must continue to serve Christ in spite of ridicule, persecution, the loss of friends, material comforts, family relationships and so on. Jesus takes precedence over all human comforts, possessions and relationships (Luke 14:26-27,33).

6. Everything must be proven by the Word of God, everything must be questioned, analyzed and measured by the Scriptures (Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians. 5:21-22).

7. A good number of people that we run into will not listen, and a good number who become Christians will either give up or fail to grow (Matthew 13:20-22).

8. There exists no human headquarters which settles every issue for us. Which means that each Christian and each congregation must work out all these issues, while at the same time striving for unity and maintaining brotherly love.

My point in the above is on the one hand God expects us to be hardened and tough against the assaults of the world, and yet on the other hand we must be tender and sensitive to our brethren.

There are various methods of bringing unity to a group of people. Some religious bodies have opted for some type of centralized, iron-cad rule.

Such is the way among the Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and others. A select group works out all doctrinal issues, the only choice is completely agree or find yourself out of the group. Disagreement and discussion are not tolerated. Others try to keep the teaching so shallow and uncontroversial that disagreements can't happen. But God's way is different. He commands allegiance to the doctrine of Christ (John 14:15; Matthew 7:21; 2 John 9), that each individual must interpret and decide for themselves at the same time of commanding a fervent love for each other among those who follow Christ. And maybe this is Christianity at its most practical level. God commands us to study the Scriptures and as individuals come to an agreement (1 Corinthians 1:10; Philippians 1:27), while exposing error, rejecting false teachers, defending the truth, withdrawing those who depart (2 Thessalonians.3:6), and during all of this to have a fervent, tremendous, and deep love for other Christians. It has been my experience that everyone except the Church of Christ has given up trying to achieve this type of unity. Most have thrown up their hands in the air and exclaimed, 'This is impossible'. My reply is, 'No, this is Christianity. This is what is means to be a follower of Christ. This is what is means to love as Christ loved.'

Without a doubt, the love that must exist between Christians is something that we often fail to practice. Listen to these passages: 'This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.' (John 15:12); 'we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren' (1 John 3:16); 'fervently love one another from the heart' (1 Peter 1:22); 'keep fervent in your love for one another' (1 Peter 4:8); 'and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you' (Eph. 5:2); 'that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love' (Colossians 2:2).

When I read the New Testament I am impressed that First Century Christians really seemed to like and love each other: 'I thank my God in all my remembrance of you' (Phil. 1:3); 'my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown' (4:1); 'what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account, as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face' (1 Thessalonians. 3:9-10); 'For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?' (2:19); 'Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us' (2:8).

This started me thinking, what do I love about my brethren? And while this isn't an exhaustive list, these are some of the things which I came up with:

1. My brethren are actually brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ ('For whoever does the will of My Father, who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother' Matthew 12:50; 'to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me' Matthew 25:40; 'For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, "I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise' Hebrews 2:11-12). Jesus told Peter, 'when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers' Luke 22:32. And in a very real sense, not only elders and preachers, but every Christian is given the responsibility to encourage their brethren ('encourage one another day after day lest anyone of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin' Hebrews 3:13; 'See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God' Hebrews 12:15; 'let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds' Hebrews 10:24). It is as if Jesus is saying to each one of us,'These are my brothers and sisters, please take good care of them, encourage them for me, if you see them getting discouraged, will you encourage them for me? If you see them beginning to waver, will you strengthen them for me? If you see them standing by themselves, will you try to involve them for me?

2. I love my brethren or I need to love them, because they are at times few and far between. I don't have an unlimited number of brothers and sisters to run through.

3. I love my brethren, because unlike many other people, members of the Church will sit through tough sermons and will be back that very night for more.

4. I love them because they don't need fancy surroundings, or a production number to worship God. In fact, my brethren will worship God in the poorest of surroundings, in little ugly buildings, and in hot and cold buildings.

5. I love my brethren because they will continue to sing out, even when the singing isn't that great, they will continue to listen to the preaching, even when the lesson isn't very organized. Years ago Dan S. Shipley wrote an article entitled, 'Praise The Pluggers', in that article he said: 'When the doors to the meeting house are open, they are there. Even when company comes, even when they don't feel so good, even when the weather is bad, even when others in their own family can't join them, and even when the preacher has to be away, they are there to worship the Lord. They don't quit when the preaching gets hard, when the preacher gets fired or when brethren get disagreeable. Its not that pluggers don't have their feelings, their personal problems, and their "druthers". They do. It's just that serving the Lord is most important with them. Praise the pluggers because their faithfulness is not limited by a certain church building or a "home-town" GodThat's why you will find pluggers worshipping God wherever their travels may carry them. And when they move to a new town, you won't have to look them up-they'll look you up! Even amid strangers in a strange city, even with all the adjusting and getting settled, you may as well move over and make room because the pluggers will be there! It may mean driving thirty or forty miles; it may mean missing supper or getting home late, but if it involves serving the Lord, they'll be there.' (Plain Talk 13/11/3)

6. I love my brethren because they search the Scriptures with tremendous care (Acts 17:11). Yes, our Bible Studies or classes may get uncomfortable or tense now and then, and you may learn more than you wanted to learn, but you just can't help but love people who want to do what is right, who don't want to make any assumptions with their soul.

7. I love my brethren, because they are so conscientious. When my brethren must withdraw from a brother or sister, even when that brother or sister was clearly in the wrong, my brethren will still wonder if they did everything they could! My brethren will try to get new members involved, various invitations for all sorts of things will be extended, and some times the person being invited is just too busy with other things. Often that same person will complain that my brethren are unfriendly or inactive. And you know what? Even in that type of situation, my brethren will feel that they didn't do enough, in fact, my brethren will even feel guilty! I don't know how many business meetings or elders/deacons meetings which I have sat in on, in which the above situation was played out over and over again---and yet my brethren always examined themselves, and often with much severer scrutiny than the motives and life of the person who left (2 Corinthians 13:5). You just can't help but love people like that!

8. I love my brethren, because it always seems they are they trying to encourage the preacher to keep on preaching and keep on preaching what they need to hear (Acts 10:33).

9. I love my brethren, because they take so much abuse from the world and the religious world. My brethren probably hear more rebukes than any other group of people that I know. I need to love my brethren, because for many of them, other Christians and myself are the only real family that they have! The world preaches to my brethren (Romans 12:1-2); my brethren also must endure the preaching that comes from their non-Christian family members and those in the denominational world. And yet, in spite of all of this negative confrontation which all brethren face, most of them appear to be happy, positive, upbeat and well-adjusted.

10. I love my brethren, because regardless of the number of times that people turn them down, or they get called names, or people argue with them, many of them are always trying to find someone to study with. My brethren, in spite of the rejection they have received from friends and family, still ask me for tracts, handouts, material, tapes and so on.

11. I love my brethren, because it will be an ordinary Wednesday night or Sunday night, no special announcement has been made, no special service is being offered, and here they come. My brethren will continue to come where the order of worship hasn't changed for years of decades. And yet, when they walk out of services, they will say, 'Great service'. They will hear a lesson which they have heard many times before, and they will say, 'Good lesson'. As I close allow me to saying the following: Our buildings are not the biggest or most ornate in town, but in them God is glorified. Our services are not filled with hype, or special events, but our people are there. Our worship isn't traditional or contemporary, it is simply worship. Our preachers are not flamboyant, their lessons are not 100% original, but they are the Word of God. Our members are not the movers and shakers in the community, but they are honest and good people. Our song service wouldn't sell many CD's, but God likes to listen to it. Pomp and ceremony are not associated with our serving of the Lord's Supper, but our members do remember the sacrifice of Christ. Our elders do not wear robes, or fancy titles, but they are selfless shepherds who watch over God's flock.