Dear God,
I'm asking you to help me, Lord. Help me have a love that is unconditional. No matter where a person is or where they are headed, help me love them all the same. Help me see that there is a difference between loving someone and condoning their actions. Thank you for showing me how it can be done through your son.
Love,
Romans 2:17-24
Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."
So. These are some strong words. Man oh man. He's talking to the Jews, especially the ones who think they have this awesome relationship with God through the law, and they teach others the law, so they think they are righteous. But actually, Paul says, you are hypocrites. You teach others all these things in the law, but you break them yourselves. Because of your double mind, the Gentiles don't believe in God.
And this can connect to a lot of people today, pastors and non-pastors alike. If you say you are a Christian, and yet you don't follow what the Bible says to do, you are giving the world a reason not to believe in Jesus. Fabulous.
I've been reading Donald Miller's "Blue Like Jazz," and one of the things that really stuck out to me this time around is how much the church doesn't love people as God wants them to. We are quick to judge people if they don't follow our code of conduct or whatever. Our love is conditional.
I'd also like to point out one thing. Paul talks exactly like Jesus. Just little phrases. "Now you... You who teach others... As it is written..." So either Paul is already speaking Christianese, or Jesus spoke directly to his generation. :-)
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