More Than Stone

This is probably an exegetical stretch, but bear with me. Exegetical stretch or not, I like it, and it may have some legitimacy.

Coming from a conservative, even perhaps a slightly fundamentalist background, I look back over my life and cringe at some the things that I have thought, said, and done in the Name of God. Here, I publicly confess a few of my sins:

1. There was a time that I truly believed you couldn’t follow Jesus and vote for a democrat.
2. There was a time that I truly believed that the people of the world were out to “corrupt both myself and my children”, and the best thing I could do was hide.
3. There was a time that I hung on every word James Dobson said.
4. There was a time that I thought that being a follower of Jesus meant having my quiet time, going to church, and protecting my children from the outside, all the while, not doing a stinking thing about the hurt, poverty and oppression that was around me.
5. There was a time that I thought that I was the “Disciple whom Jesus loved”.

For most of my life, every time we came across the phrase “disciple whom Jesus loved”, it was taken seriously. For example, this study note from the “NIV Study Bible”, on John 13:23;

The disciple whom Jesus loved-The expression does not, of course, mean that Jesus did not love the other disciples, but that there was a special bond with this man.

Is it really a factual statement, that John was the favorite disciple? And if John was the favorite, isn’t it a bit obnoxious to keep stating it? Think about it….I write a post on my blog…..

Was John the favorite, or was he just a bit puffed up? I guess we won’t know until we see Jesus face to face.

Some say that the book of John is the most theologically developed of the gospels.

I think that’s just funny, and friends and neighbors, the Bible has some funny things in it. I think sometimes in our piety, we fail to see the humor in and beauty of human failings, and the fact that God uses and loves us anyway.

Ok, so if you are still with me, fast-forward a few years to the books of 1, 2 & 3 John. These 3 books of John have always read like a loving grandfather to his grandchildren, humble, loving and gentle instruction. Not once is the phrase “the disciple whom Jesus loved” present in these writings. What we do see is much talk about loving one another, not boasting, and not deceiving ourselves.

1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves.

1 John 2:9 Anyone who claims to be in the light, but hates his brother is still in the darkness.

1 John 2:16 For everything in the world….the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world.

1 John 3:16-17 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

2 John 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.

3 John 5-6 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love.

I see a little bit of myself in the younger John. “Allow me to enlighten you to the ways of God, because, by the way, I’m the favorite”. I pray that as I journey with God, I will see a bit of the older, wiser, mellower John in myself as well.

Other syncrobloggers speaking on love today…..

Christian Sexuality as Ritual Worship at Phil Wyman’s Square No More
Christians: choosing who to love at Mike’s Musings
Loving God, Loving others, loving self- responding to the Goddess- a feminist perspective at Eternal Echoes
Trinity by Mike Crockett
Prophet’s Passion at Adam Gonnerman’s Igneous Quill
A Love Supreme from Fernando’s Desk
What is this thing called love? at Steve’s Notes from the Underground
Love as it should pertain to us missionally? at Webb’s Stumbling into the Kingdom
Divine Eros by Handmaid Leah
Loving the Other by John Smulo
The Conjunction Between Sensuality and Spirituality by Matt Stone
The Blogger Whom Jesus Loved at Jamie’s More Than Stone
Love Them Patriots at Calacirian
I’m a better lover than I used to be… by Billy Calderwood
Young people in on love by Tim Abbot
The Art of Making
Love….and Soap at Cindy’s Tracking the Edge
Being Missional:
Love Comes Before Power by David Fisher at Be the Revolution