Love God?

The other day during a Bible study on John 14:15-31, which begins with Jesus stating, "If you love me, you will obey what I command," a friend of mine said this was the first time he had ever heard that we are supposed to love God. This was a bit of a shock, but what was most shocking was when he explained that he grew up in the Catholic church. He was baptized as an infant and went to church until he was around 14, but after his second communion he never returned. Now, many years later, he has taken a new interest in the Bible. He doesn't know much about it, but it still amazes me that someone raised in church could honestly say, "I didn't know we had to love God."

I've been studying the Bible one on one with this same friend for several weeks now. When we met earlier this week we talked again about love. It started when he was explaining to me a conversation with a mutual friend of ours who is a believer. He said while she was talking about Jesus he got the impression that she was truly in love with him. My friend said he had never seen this before. As I listened to him talk and watched his expressions, he really seemed not to be able to understand. "How can you love someone you've never met?" he asked.

I tried to explain some about prayer and the Spirit and how it is possible to know God personally, but only through faith. But mostly I explained that the Bible is all about love. What are the two greatest commandments: one, love God with all that we are and two, love others as ourselves. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son." Jesus told us that as the Father loves him, he loves us, and that we should remain in his love and show the same love to others. Even as a kid, how is it my friend spent 14 years in church and yet these concepts are foreign to him?

The other day I listened my girlfriend explain in a small group that she didn't believe in Jesus because she believed in the Bible, but she believed in the Bible because she believed in Jesus. Brillant! I thought. Of course, I hold that the Bible is true and it is the way we come to know who Jesus is, but its a personal encounter with the Living God that makes those ancient words come to life and have meaning for us. It is the Spirit that enlightens our hearts and minds to grasp that truth. If we don't know and love Jesus, its easy to think of the Bible as outdated or a list of rules or just another book that teaches the same morals as every other religion.

Certainly, we must share the Word of Truth with others, but we must realize that without living examples of people who are obviously in love with Jesus, without the Body of Christ putting that Truth into practice, most of the people we share with will never truly get it.

So how did my friend never know the Gospel was all about God's love and Jesus providing a way for us to receive that love and to love God in return? Until recently, he never saw an example.

The Catholic church has a long tradition in France, but it is increasingly losing any influence in society. Most of my friends here have parents or more likely grandparents who were faithful, practicing Catholics and most of them were baptized and/or went through catechism whether out of the desire of family members or cultural norms, but almost none of them believe in God, read the Bible, or have any involvement in the church today. I don't know if its because the church treated faith as a list of rules, valued traditions, social standards, or just a venue for teaching morality, or maybe some other reason, but it seems clear to me that they missed something big. And it must clear to the French as well, because they're leaving the church fast with no intention of returning.

My intent is not to critize the Catholic church. On the contrary, since arriving in France I've become more and more convinced that the church in the US is on the same path and will look very similar in a matter of years. Even being from the Bible Belt, I know a staggering amount of people my age who were raised in church, but left it as a teen or young adult and are now hostile toward it or simply have no interest.

One thing seems evident, in this sort of evironment, someone who is whole-heartedly in love with Christ strongly stands out. In fact, that's true in any environment.

“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.”  -John 13:34-35

PS. Please, pray that God would reveal himself clearly to the friend I wrote about as he seeks to understand the Word and what it means to know and love God. He is very interested and asking great questions, but told me he feels like he's far away from being in love with God. Thank you.