One Love.

“Oh you’re Christians? Tell me how you accepted Jesus as your Lord & Savior.” In my experience, sharing the gospel isn’t normally that easy… But on that night, in early March on the rooftop of our hostel, the door was wide open. We shared stories of how we came to know Christ, each one providing a different perspective of the truth and hope found only in Jesus. The conversation unfolded into a beautiful dialogue of faith and the world we live in. At first I was intrigued at such a direct question, wondering if she knew Jesus herself. But I eventually recognized her as a lost soul, disillusioned by the church, determined to place her hope in something else beyond a faulty system.

What do you believe about God?

What do you believe about Jesus?

What is the point of life?

She was familiar with religion and all of its teachings; she knew what to ask, and how to challenge us on what exactly we believe. There was common ground in all of it. At face value it seemed like we agreed on a lot of things. But there was something missing… 

“I believe in love. Love is the center of all religions… love is what unites us.” 

But what is love without Jesus? Our capacity to love pales in comparison to the love of God. What we experience here on this earth is just a hint of the immense love contained in God himself. Even the depth of love a man has for his wife, or a mother has for her child, it’s all a reflection of our creator. It’s a mysterious thing that wells up within us, something we were created for, but can’t even begin to comprehend. The definition of love is only found fully in God, and the greatest expression of love was sending Jesus. Think about that for a second… what do we know about love without Jesus? 

The love of God is tangible in Jesus. He quickly becomes part of the definition of love itself. 

“God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.” (1 John 4:9-12)

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” (John 13:34)

I couldn’t escape that phrase, “Love is what unites us.” I want it to be true… the heart behind that statement is a desire to live at peace with one another. Our world is full of so much hate, so much violence… 

But peace does not come with universalism… Peace comes through reconciliation with Jesus. 

And once we have personally experienced reconciliation with Jesus, experienced the full depth of the love of God, then we have the opportunity to share that love with others. Through our love, others can experience the love of God. Jesus is the one who offers peace, unity and healing to our hurting world. So yes, spread love!! And share Jesus. 

Nothing profound, but I’ve been thinking of this song.

Tuhia (Link)

There is but one love
And it is your love
Ko te mea nui (The most important thing)

Your love has freed us
And we’re free indeed
Spoken to our pain
Revealing hope again