“I love you” does not mean I have to agree with you. “I love you” does not mean I have to accept what you do. “I love you” means I will never walk away. It means I will never abandon you when you need my help; I will never make you cry alone; I will never hope that you get what you deserve, but that God will be gracious to you. “I love you” means I sincerely hope and pray that you will come to know Jesus and be rescued from death eternally, and that is not hate speech. If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t care what you believe or what path in life you decided to walk down. I wouldn’t care if your life was destructive to you or if the stuff you chased after or believed in would harm you in the end. I guess if I didn’t love you, and you didn’t love me, we might all be able to get along.
Some ask why we can’t all just get along. The problem is not that we can’t work together or help one another. The problem is that those who ask the question usually mean ‘agree’ when they say ‘get along’.
You see, there are many things that all people can agree on, many ideas that we all share, many thoughts of peace that we all pray for. But just because there are some fundamental beliefs about truth and God that we can not agree on, doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. (And I expect that if we really are friends and we really DO believe what we say we do, then we WILL have conversation – debates – arguments about our differing understandings of God and truth because if we don’t try to help our friends understand what we understand about eternity, we would be willingly allowing them to walk down a path we believe leads to their own destruction, and this is true whatever our belief is.)
You see Muslims, Jews, and Christians all believe God is merciful to those who follow Him, so some would say let us all then accept that we all follow the same God in different ways. But those who think this are ignorant of the most core beliefs of these faiths.
A Christian Says Jesus is God in the flesh, while both Jews and Muslims would say that is blasphemy. A Muslim believes God is completely other (or different from man) while Jews and Christians believe God is personal and can have a relationship with His created people. To a Christian, only a follower of Christ can be saved, to a Jew, only a convert to Judaism can be saved, and to a Muslim, only a true Muslim can be saved. Every group believes the others are condemned to destruction if they do not convert, but that DOES NOT mean we can not be friends. It doe not mean I don’t love those I believe have rejected or never heard the truth of Jesus.
I will love you no matter what you believe. I will talk to you about Jesus without forcing anything upon you whether you change your ideas and follow Him or not. I will be your friend whether you end up agreeing with the Bible or not. But I will always pray that God will reach you and bring you home. And that’s BECAUSE I love you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. ”You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. – Matthew 5:38-48
Stay away from idols,
Pastor Rob