TEN TRAITS OF A VITAL CHRISTIAN
Trait # 5 Commits To Loving & Caring
Relationships John 15:9-17
What makes
us a Healthy and fruitful Church? Lee Iacocca once asked
legendary football coach Vince Lombardi what it took to create a winning team.
The book Iacocca records Lombardi’s answer: “There are a lot of coaches with
good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but
still don’t win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: if you’re
going to play together as a team, you’ve got to care for one another. You’ve
got to love each other. Each player has to think about the next guy and say to
himself:
‘If I don’t
block that man, Paul is going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well for
him to do his.’ “The difference between mediocrity and greatness,” Lombardi
said that night, “is the feeling these guys have for each other.” The same
principles of love and care for each other also work in a Church community. In a
healthy church, each Christian learns to care for others. As we take Jesus’
command to “love one another” seriously, we can make our Church healthy and
effective witnesses in our communities, which would make us a winning team.”[1]
We have been
working through the Ten Vital Signs of a Christian in our Vital Christian
series. We learned that a Vital Christian experiences God’s Empowering Presence
daily. A Vital Christian engages both individually and corporately in
God-exalting worship. Practicing the Spiritual Disciplines of Studying God’s
Word, Prayer, and Works of Service would help us bear much fruit in God’s
Kingdom. These disciplines are not worked out in a vacuum but are better
practiced in a community. Last week, we examined the importance of being part
of a local Church and how a vital Christian learns and grows in the community.
Today, we will look at Trait # 5: A Vital Christian Commits to Loving and
Caring Relationships.” John 15:9-17
II. Christ is the Head, and We are the Members of the Body
of Christ.
In Acts 2:47, the Greek word ekklesia
was first used to differentiate the Christian Community from the Jewish
Community. In the NT, the Church has twofold aspects: the Church worldwide,
which includes all who Christ called in the fellowship of His salvation, and a
local individual Church. A vital Christian learns and grows in a Church
community.
The
best functional expression of the Church is the “Body Of Christ.” When Christ
saves us, he makes us members of his body. Writing to the Corinthian local
Church, the Apostle Paul explains how the body of Christ functions in this
world. “A body has many parts, and all these parts form one body, so it is with
Christ. Each body part needs the other part to be healthy.
Each part
must recognize its placement and function to its optimum for the good of the
rest of the body. But God has put the body together so that there should be no
division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each
other. If one part suffers, every part suffers; if one part is honored, every
part rejoices with it. Now, you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is
a part of it.” I Cor 12:12-27
In
Ephesians, Paul writes about how each part of the body of Christ interrelates
with the other part and their relation to the head of the body, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Ephesians 4:15-16, “Instead, speaking the
truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of
him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him, the whole body joined and
held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself
up in love as each part does its work.”
The
principles of love, support, care, hygiene, health, and unity that apply to the
physical body also apply to the body of Christ. How does this work out in Hope
Church? Christ is the head of our Church, and we are members of his body. The
health and effectiveness of Hope Church depends on all of its members working
together in love and and the unity of Spirit.
II. Loving and Caring Relationships are a gift from God.
Steve
Machai has this to say about loving and caring relationships: “Expressing
thanks to God for the gift of his relationship with us leads naturally into
thanking the Lord for all of our relationships. The quality of our
relationships with family, friends, work associates, Church, and community
should reflect our extravagant love for Jesus. Be sure to tell God how grateful
you are for these people, and take the time to express gratitude to those within your relational web of connections. It’s the relationally healthy
thing to do, even when some relationships are stressed and strained!”[2]
Many are lonely without loving relationships.
When we
first moved to the US in 2005, as an immigrant family, we experienced the pain
of being uprooted from our family and friends and living in a strange country.
I don’t know where we would be today without a small local church that welcomed
us, embraced us, and made us feel at home. That is why it is so vital that we
belong to a local Church.
This past
week, I celebrated my 60th birthday. I was grateful to God for the
gift of life, salvation, and a family where I am loved and cared for. I thanked
God for my extended family, Hope church family, friends, brothers, and sisters
in the body of Christ. It made me realize that I am not alone but connected
with others. We all enjoy loving and caring relationships. Yet those
relationships will not happen automatically, and they take effort and management.
We will examine why we must love one another and how we cultivate and enjoy
loving relationships.
III. A Vital Christian Commits to Loving and Caring
Relationships.
The phrase “one another” occurs 100
times in the NT. Approximately 59 of those are specific commands teaching us
how (and how not) to relate to one another. Obedience to those commands is
imperative, as they form the basis for Christian communities and their witness.
Two such direct commands from Jesus
are mentioned in the Gospel of John. “A new command I
give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
Jn 13:34-35.
Jesus reaffirms the same command but
explains how it should be practiced. “My command is
this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this:
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jn 15:12-17. Jesus showed us how
we are to love one another.
Christ’s love was generous; he gave
his whole life. It was sacrificial. He willingly died on the cross. It was
unconditional. He died for us while we were still sinners. It was forgiving. He
asked the Father to forgive those who were persecuting Him. How is our love for
others?
Expressing a commitment to loving
and caring relationships in the body of Christ begins with knowing and speaking
the language of love. I Corinthians 13 talks all about love. How do we know
what love is? “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has
material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on
them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love
with words or speech but with actions and in truth." I John 3:16-18
What hinders us from cultivating and
enjoying loving and caring relationships? Unresolved conflicts and strained relationships are demoralizing emotionally and physically. If you have an unresolved conflict and lack of
forgiveness in your heart, it calls for you to sit with that person, maybe with
the help of another believer, and sort it out.
Trying to resolve a conflict may not
always end up in reconciliation. Sometimes, we may have
to end a toxic relationship. God understands that. Therefore, he said, “If it
is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans
12:18). What matters is whether we are committed to loving and caring relationships,
which makes us a healthy Church.
