A Great Commandment

Galatians 5:13-15

Introduction

What is real Christianity? How would you answer that? I have heard many Christians accuse other Christians of being fake Christians. I, myself have been accused of being a fake Christian. Usually this happens when a person becomes extremely passionate about a certain aspect of the faith, so much so, that they see that as being the most important part of the faith. They see other people claiming to be Christians who are no where near as passionate about that thing and it feels wrong. If they know the Lord as I know the Lord, why can they not see things as clearly as I do? Your position on this issue is the test of real Christianity.

This goes back to the very beginning of Christianity. There were people who followed Jesus but also saw commitment to the Jewish traditions as essential. It was just so obvious. Jesus was Jewish. The Twelve Apostles were Jewish, why would any follower of Jesus not be Jewish, even if they came from a different background. For them, this was the test for real Christianity.

Paul had a different position. It was not that he was so open-minded that anything goes. He just saw a different test for what was the measure of true Christianity.

What we are going to look at is one of the most important topics that we can discuss. It is this that threatens to divide Christianity and the church. I feel strongly that the church is on the cusp of either strengthening or shipwrecking our witness to the world. It all comes down to those foundational values and how we communicate them. Will we pick secondary issues and reject those who disagree or will we rally around what the Bible actually says is our core? This is really the same question that Paul was wrestling with in his communication to the Galatians.

Clarifying the Law

If you read the first part of this chapter, you will see that Paul is really getting worked up here. It seems like he is just upset over the circumcision but he is actually concerned about what circumcision represents. The real issue is about the foundation of the faith. Is it based upon faithfulness to the Jewish Law with the sign of circumcision or is it something else? In the midst of that discussion, Paul makes this powerful statement: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love.” (Galatians 5:6) The only thing that counts. That is strong wording, especially in response to people are arguing that circumcision is what really matters. Let that sink in. “Faith working through love.” Paul has already been working through the concept of faith, using the examples of Abraham and demonstrating that righteousness comes through faith. This faith is not simply believing in God or that Jesus was a real person. This faith is trust, trusting in God’s promises. Now Paul adds to that the concept of love. Faith working through love.

It is actually love that brings shape to what Paul has been trying to say. Paul is saying that as Christians we do not live by the Law. But what are the consequences of not obeying the Law? If the rules are taken away, that would seem to open the doors to a life of anything goes.

In some translations of the Bible, we find the word “licentiousness.” That is not necessarily a word that we use in everyday conversation today, but this is the fear of a life with a law. One definition of licentiousness is “wanton disregard or transgression of laws, rules, or moral norms.” This is usually regarding sex but it can be much wider than that. What is to stop a law-free faith from degenerating into that? There certainly are examples of cults that have a semi-Christian basis that become like this.

The answer is love. Paul explains that the freedom we have in Christ is not for us to throw ourselves into self-indulgence but rather freedom to live the life of love. Paul is brilliant in how he presents this. He basically says to them: “You want the Law, I will give you the Law!” And then he quotes to them Leviticus 19:18, which is part of the Mosaic Law: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Paul is arguing that the actual summary of what the Law is comes down to loving others. How important is this?

This is the test of true Christianity. It is found in the Old Testament. It is quoted by Paul twice, here and in Romans. It is quoted by James in his letter. It is quoted by Jesus twice, including a summary of the most important commandments being loving God and loving neighbours. Even where this verse is not explicitly quoted, the New Testament stresses over and over that love for others is what the Christian life is supposed to look like. I don’t know how the Bible can be clearer than this.

The bottom line is that freedom in Christ is not license to sin but freedom to love our neighbours as ourselves.

A Loving Church

We are no longer debating back and forth about the Law and the value of circumcision is not a key issue. And yet the argument of Paul still stands.

The way people tend to define true Christianity is about taking a strong stand against something. It is often easier to define ourselves by what we are against. But the argument that Paul and the rest of the Bible puts forth is that which we are for and that is love.

This seems straight forward and yet it is not. It comes down to who we are supposed to love. There are some people easier than others to love. When someone ask who this neighbour was that we were supposed to love, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. That is a beloved parable for us but originally it was quite offensive as Samaritans were hated. Jesus purposely widens the definition of neighbour beyond our comfort levels.

What is the purpose of a local church? While not necessarily wanting to put this first, it is my experience is that most churches see their primary purpose as growing the size of the congregation, especially for Sunday morning gatherings. Every decision is to be examine through the lens of will it bring people in on Sunday mornings. Some of the most thriving church ministries I have been a part of were criticized for not relating directly to new people on Sunday mornings.

What would church ministry look like if instead of more people on Sunday morning that the lens was loving our neighbours? Would that change anything? 

Let me ask this question. We offer a monthly KD Lunch for our local high school students. What if we could look into the future and discover that not one of these students would ever attend our services on a Sunday morning? Would you suggest that we stop this program and start something that would have different results? Or would you see showing love to people as an acceptable goal in and of itself? That is a hard question that many churches would struggle with. Growing as a congregation is not wrong but not loving is definitely wrong. Love is meant to be our guiding principle, far more important than even our hope to see numerical growth in our church. That is a hard truth.

Conclusion

How different are we from the ancient Galatians? Fairly different in terms of culture and language. Even some of the theological controversies are quite foreign. And yet human nature and the will of God have not changed. Some things always remain.

There actually is a true Christianity and a false Christianity, as judgmental as that might sound. False Christianity embraces hate, especially hate toward anyone different from us. True Christianity embraces love, love for God and love for people.

There are many competing values seeking to be that which guides us. Our marching orders are actually pretty clear. Love your neighbour as yourself. That is what should direct the actions of the church and what should direct the actions of the Christian. Do not get distracted or confused by the other things. Focus on love and you will not go wrong.