A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
—JOHN 13:34–35
Love is the one characteristic that most defines the life of Theopraxy: love for God and love for people, particularly the family of faith. Jesus summarized all of God’s Old Testament commands in two: Love God and love others (MATTHEW 22:34–40). Further, on the night of His arrest, when He established the new covenant (MATTHEW 26:28; MARK 14:24; LUKE 22:20), He also gave His followers His new commandment (JOHN 13:34): “… love one another, even as I have loved you.” People sometimes miss this connection because the new covenant is mentioned only in the Synoptic Gospels (i.e., Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and the new commandment only in John. John reiterates this message in his later writings (1 JOHN 2:7–8; 2 JOHN 5).
In JOHN 13, Jesus demonstrates His love to his disciples, then commands them to do the same for each other. The story starts by explaining what is going through Jesus’ mind: “Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (13:1).
Jesus knew that His time on earth was ending, so He spent His last remaining hours loving His followers. Then, He gave them a demonstration. He took off his robe, wrapped a towel around himself, and washed their feet (13:4–11). Afterwards, He explained: “’Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you” (13:12B–15). Jesus was showing them not just how much He loved them, but also how they should love each other.
As they continued with their meal, Jesus explained that one of them sitting at that very table would betray Him and that He (Jesus) would be leaving them very soon. Then He gave them a command: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (JOHN 13:34–35).
This new commandment is similar to the Old Testament version, but with additional emphases. It focuses on loving “one another”—other members of God’s family. It gives an example or standard: We are to love each other as Jesus loves us. And the new commandment explains the result of obedience: This love, Jesus says in verse 35, will be the evidence that we are His disciples. Our love for each other shows the world that we follow Jesus.
This is both astonishing and frightening. Astonishing because, looking at the church today, we would not guess it; frightening because we often fall short of loving as Jesus loved. Yes, I love those who are easily lovable. But even pagans do that (MATTHEW 5:43–48). Nevertheless, our love for each other is meant to be the indicator demonstrating that we truly are Jesus’ disciples. That demands our undivided attention. It has massive implications for our functioning within the church and for evangelism. Love is where the entire experience of Theopraxy comes into sharp focus.
Only by the enablement of the Holy Spirit can we can love each other as Jesus loves us. This is true of the entire life of Theopraxy, but it is particularly true here. The Old Testament commands to love God and neighbor were already beyond our ability in our own strength. The new commandment goes farther, requiring us to love one another as Jesus loves us. The day He gave this command, Jesus was betrayed by one of the followers whose feet He had washed. The next day He was crucified. This demonstrates the degree of love He was commanding.
Later on during the evening when Jesus gave His new commandment, He explained more about love and unity in His high priestly prayer, recorded in JOHN 17:1–26. In VERSE 26 He explained that God’s love will be in us, as His followers. “I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” Jesus called for the practical demonstration of that love as He prayed for unity among His follower:
I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
—JOHN 17:20–23
Wow. All of us who follow Jesus are to have the same degree of unity as the members of the Trinity! This comparison is repeated for emphasis in this passage. And our love for each other will serve as a testimony to the unbelieving world—in this case, “so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me” (JOHN 17:23).
Perhaps one reason for our anemic evangelistic fruit is our failure to demonstrate love and unity within the body of Christ. After all, we have the best news imaginable—that it is possible to know, love, and serve the magnificent Lord of creation for all eternity. Unfortunately, in our actions toward one another, we often do not act as if this were true. Our failure to corporately live a life of thorough Theopraxy is a hindrance discouraging others from following Christ.
Jesus gave the new commandment and the new covenant at the same meal—the Last Supper, where He celebrated the Passover just prior to His betrayal and arrest. Before the supper, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as an expression of His love and service to them, and He directed them to serve one another just as He had served them. At that same meal, and around that same table, the disciples began to argue about which of them was the greatest, leading Jesus to remind them that in His Kingdom the greatest would be one who serves (LUKE 22:24–27).
In his commentary on Galatians, the fourth-century church father Jerome tells a story about the apostle John that had been passed down orally. When John was very old and infirm, he would be carried from place to place to speak. His message was always the same: “Children, love one another.” When asked why his message never varied, he replied, “It is the Lord’s command, and if it is done, it is enough.”
John’s writings constantly remind us to love one another (JOHN 13:34–35; 15:12, 17; 1 JOHN 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11–12; 2 JOHN 5). Paul mentions this command often too (ROMANS 12:10; 13:8; GALATIANS 5:13; EPHESIANS 4:2; 1 THESSALONIANS 3:12; 4:9; 2 THESSALONIANS 1:3), as does Peter (1 PETER 1:22; 4:8; 5:14).
Perhaps the best practical test of our mutual love is our finances. It is amazing how quickly we can slip into non-Kingdom priorities rather than being sacrificial with our money. This is not only true of individuals, but also of many congregations and their budgeting priorities. Like the rich young ruler, many people go away sad when they hear the Lord speaking with them about giving away money (LUKE 18:18–27). Like the Pharisees, they scoff at the idea that genuine faith should lead to generosity (LUKE 16:10–15).
Conversely, I have witnessed amazing selflessness and generosity on the part of some people, which provides a clear evidence that their commitment to the Lord is not merely mental assent. They are sanctified entirely, including their wallets.
One interesting manifestation of this generosity is a phenomenon that seems to be spontaneously appearing more and more frequently in pockets around the world. Some refer to it as base camps. There are a variety of expressions, but the salient characteristics include some degree of joint finances and economic activity akin to the shared resources of the early church in ACTS 2:44–45 and ACTS 4:32.
These base camps serve as ministry and equipping centers for making disciples and producing physical blessings. They model joint service toward the communities or regions where they are located. In so doing, they demonstrate corporate examples of selfless sacrifice and love for one another and the communities around them. In his book Rising Tides, Neil Cole describes these base camps, which he refers to as “Kingdom outposts,” in greater detail. Several of the earliest examples I am aware of came out of the “listening group” discussed in the next chapter. Neil and I were two of the twelve participants in that group.
Love is the central theme of our life in Christ. It is the flavor or aroma that defines us. Love is easy to talk about but far more difficult to put into practice. The parable of the good Samaritan is instructive. There, an expert in the religious law asks Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (LUKE 10:25).
Jesus responds with a question: “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” (10:26).
The lawyer responds by quoting the Old Testament command to love God and love your neighbor (10:27). Jesus replies, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live” (10:28).
But the lawyer is not satisfied with Jesus’ affirmation. Instead, “wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” (10:29). The religious lawyer wants a legal definition. In other words, he is asking, “Whom must I love and whom am I free not to love?”
Jesus responds with the familiar tale of the good Samaritan who crosses boundaries of hatred, race, and religion to help the Jewish man who has been robbed and beaten (10:30–37).
In the parable, the religious leaders who passed by the robbery victim were busy people with things to do. Stopping to care for an injured man would have created many inconveniences for them. But this account sounds remarkably similar to Jesus’ story of the sheep and goats in MATTHEW 25:31–46. There Jesus declares that, on judgment day, He will welcome some into His Kingdom, saying, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me” (25:34–36).
The people will reply in surprise, “Lord, when did we see You” and do any of those things (25:37–39)? Jesus will reply, “To the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me” (25:40).
Conversely, to others Jesus will say, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me” (MATTHEW 25:41–43).
Again, they will ask in surprise, “Lord, when did we see you …?” (25:44). And Jesus will respond, “To the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me” (25:45).
From this passage, two things are inescapably clear. First, Jesus takes it very personally when we show (or fail to show) kindness “to one of these brothers of Mine” (25:40). He sees it as if we had treated Jesus Himself in that way. Second, the way we treat others is connected with how the Lord will treat us. Jesus made a similar comment in Matthew 6:14–15: “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”
Those who demonstrate love in practical ways to the hungry, the thirsty, and people in need or in prison are those who enter God’s Kingdom. Many people have lived lives of love, like the good Samaritan; many others have settled for making excuses, like the religious lawyer who tried to justify himself, eliciting Jesus’ parable.
As John, the beloved disciple, expresses it: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 JOHN 4:7–8).
Of course, we do not earn salvation by being kind to others. But our kindness toward others—especially our Christian brothers and sisters—is evidence that we are saved. Our love for one another proves that we are Jesus’ disciples (JOHN 13:35). Our unity proves that the Father sent Jesus (JOHN 17:21) and that He loves us (JOHN 17:23).
Like the Corinthians, we can be impressed by people with strong spiritual gifts. We admire eloquent speakers, people of great faith or amazing insights, those who have done great works or appear to have tremendous fruit in their ministry. We have a celebrity culture. Those achievements are good things, but love is a great thing (1 CORINTHIANS 12:31). In fact, without love, all those things are utterly meaningless (1 CORINTHIANS 13:1–3, 8–10). Mother Teresa said it well: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
God is less concerned with the size of our actions than with the love with which we do them. I frequently tell people I am mentoring, “You be concerned with the depth of your ministry and God will take care of the breadth of your ministry.” I learned this from one of my own mentors, Bill Smith. It expresses the concept of the spiritual economy of Matthew 10:8 (Freely you have received; freely give) and of LUKE 16:10 (If you are faithful in little, you will be faithful in much).
This truth is comforting, because we will be judged by our faithfulness in using what we have, not by the size of our gifts. God evaluates us based on our hearts, not our achievement. After seeing rich people making large gifts to the temple, and a poor widow dropping in two small copper coins, Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on” (LUKE 21:3–4). In God’s eyes, her gift was larger than theirs, because her small gift was, for her, a large sacrifice—demonstrating a heart of faith and love.
The same principle applies in many areas of life. I am by nature a hyper-introvert with relatively weak interpersonal skills. When I see someone with excellent people skills, I often think, “It would be great to have people skills like that.” My own personality makes me poorly suited for any sort of public ministry role. But I can take comfort that my ministry efforts—although uncomfortable for me and perhaps considered meager or even pitiable by others—are noticed and even honored by the Lord. He recognizes them as a sacrifice of service and love.
This pattern of showing our love out of our inadequacy also results in God demonstrating His power by working through us despite our weaknesses (1 CORINTHIANS 1:27; 2 CORINTHIANS 12:10). It has the added benefit of helping us not to be proud or do things in our own strength.
In sum, love is the primary characteristic of the Theopraxic life: love for God and love for people. Jesus, in His new commandment, gave special priority to loving those in the family of faith. The reality of this love is demonstrated (or disproved) by practical action to help those in need. As Paul says in GALATIANS 6:10, “Let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”
Our love for each other tells the world that we are Jesus’ disciples and that Jesus is really from the Father. Of course, we cannot fix every problem for every person. But we can help someone with something. God, who sees all, will evaluate us not based on the size of what we do, but based on our hearts of love and sacrifice.
Father in heaven, the Bible says You are love. And You want us to be the same toward You and toward people (especially toward my Christian brothers and sisters). This makes me nervous. Like the religious lawyer in the story of the good Samaritan, I want to limit my duty to love. But you reject those limits. Help me to pour out my life for others as You did for me. I can afford it because You are with me. Change me from selfish to loving—like You. Change my heart and change my actions.
I pray in Jesus’ name.
Read the following questions, then pray and ask God what He wants you to learn and do. Listen quietly.
Review your journal. Are there any past commitments you have not completed? If needed, schedule revised completion dates.
1. How much time, energy, and money do I spend practically loving those in need?
2. Do I treat other believers in a way that causes people to think, “Wow, he/she really is a follower of Jesus!” If so, how? If not, where am I falling short?
3. Would other people describe my life as embodying the characteristics mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7?
Why or why not?
4. What specific actions does God want me to take in response to this chapter? (Note them in your journal and schedule them in your calendar.)
5. With whom (at least one name) does God want me to share what I have learned?
Ask the Lord to enable you to follow through on these commitments and to prepare the hearts of those with whom you intend to share insights.