The apostle John, one of the sons of thunder (Mark 3:17), once reacted strongly to a Samaritan village that rejected Jesus. He along with his brother asked, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” (Luke 9:54). It was obvious that he was a man of great passion and conviction, and one who allowed his anger and passion to lead him to drastic action. On this occasion, Jesus admonished him and James, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (9:55-56).
This same John is called by many the apostle of love. The name is well deserved. John emphasized Jesus’ teaching on love for God and man in his gospel, and his epistles are filled with exhortations for Christians to love one another.
“He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him” (1 John 2:10).
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 John 3:10-11).
“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8).
“And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:21).
“And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another” (2 John 5).
“Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, who have borne witness of your love before the church” (3 John 5-6).
It is amazing how the influence of the Christ affected John. He came to know that love for God is seen in obeying His commandments. He recognized that one can’t love God unless he loves his brother. He understood that it was important to love those in the world enough to preach the gospel to them. And, he fully embraced the idea of loving your brother and sister in Christ, as you do yourself.
Some Christians seem to have the idea that its OK for brethren to not get along or care for one another. John knew that such wasn’t the case. One of the saddest things you hear of as a child of God is a lack of love between brethren. A brother or sister in Christ who ought to love another, but who can barely tolerate them. Such a thing ought not to be! “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).
I recently came across a discussion between brethren who were talking about the issue of attending physical worship services (rather than virtual) in the pandemic. Good brethren differ on this issue, as you know. One man in the discussion, in a fairly short comment, said he wished that some (of his brethren) would just SHUT UP, and QUIT BEING STUPID about these things. It is rather appalling, but unfortunately there is too much of it going on. The world sees it, and our influence is greatly harmed.
Casting aspersion upon the motivation or honesty of a brother in Christ is inappropriate. Paul wrote that love, “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). And yet we can, at the drop of a hat, be hateful to our own spiritual family. This is shameful.
The devil is working hard these days to divide the people of God. Anytime he can, he seeks to drive a wedge between brethren. Our only hedge against him is to “love one another fervently with a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22). Brethren, think on these things.
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