Let Love Be Genuine
Love can sound sincere while we keep our real motives, failures and struggles hidden. In session six of Practicing the Way, preached in Brisbane, Pastor Josh turns to Romans 12:9 and the call to let love be genuine. Three words shape the teaching: love, passion and confession.
Love Must Be Sincere
Following Jesus leads us into love. John Mark Comer's reminder matters here: habits and discipline are means to an end. We can become very disciplined and still miss the aim of discipleship. The practices serve the work of learning to love.
Romans 12:9 calls that love genuine, or sincere. The Greek meaning is without hypocrisy. A religious appearance can conceal a heart that is far from God. We might learn how to speak and behave at church while getting better at hiding what is happening inside.
Devotion gives that hidden heart a direction. Romans 12 describes what sincere love involves:
- Hate what is evil.
- Cling to what is good.
- Be devoted to one another in love.
- Honour one another above yourselves.
What we give our attention to matters. We can say we love God while pouring our hearts into something else. Our devotion shows what we actually value, and we can intentionally train it towards loving the person God puts in front of us.
Being genuine also requires more than expressing whatever we feel. Calling ourselves authentic while ignoring everyone else's feelings can become selfishness. We can be honest about our reluctance and still choose to show up.
Pastor Josh was tired, ill and struggling to shake the sickness, but made himself available with that weakness visible. His promise of a short sermon came with a practical reason: he was too tired to speak for long.
One Another
Love needs people. The repeated words in Romans 12 are one another. The person in front of us is someone God can use to challenge and shape us. Solitude has a place, but following Jesus brings us back into community.
A genuine community takes work from the people who belong to it. Searching for a perfect church can keep us from building relationships where God has already placed us. We have to bring our own desire for genuine love and stay involved in the work.
A short video from a Queensland house church showed that devotion through shared meals and prayer. Acts 2:42 gives the foundation: devotion to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking bread and prayer.
Family offers a picture of commitment that continues through disappointment. Parents can keep loving a struggling adult child for years because they are devoted to that person. Church can grow into that kind of family, where belonging means more than having our expectations met.
House church gives us somewhere to build that trust. If someone stays away because they are struggling and cannot face pretending, the community has work to do too. We need to become people with whom they can safely be real.
No Passionless Love
Romans 12:11 calls us to zeal and fervency in serving the Lord. Passion belongs in genuine love.
There is a loveless passion, but there is no passionless love.
Strong feelings can exist without care for another person. Someone can be intense, lose interest and walk away. Time tests whether love is genuine. Lasting love involves a desire and devotion that continue when the initial excitement wears off.
Quietness and shyness are no excuse to withhold that devotion. The call applies to introverts too. It asks what we care about deeply enough to give ourselves to, whatever our personality.
If we lack passion, we can ask God for something worth devoting our lives to. Houses and cars offer temporary pleasure. We need to consider what has lasting value and deserves our wholehearted commitment.
Matthew 13:44 describes a man finding treasure hidden in a field. In his joy, he sells everything he has to buy it. He knows the treasure's value and willingly pays the price. In Philippians 2, Paul describes his life being poured out as a drink offering. He is ready to give everything in service, with gladness.
Practise Hospitality
Devotion becomes visible through practice. Hearing an inspiring sermon will not make us better at loving people overnight. We have to love the person God sends our way, practise hospitality and keep honouring one another.
Outdoing one another in honour makes for an unusual competition. Imagine people trying to beat each other at recognising someone else's value. That is a culture we can help build through repeated choices.
We also need discernment about good and evil. Hatred and selfishness destroy people's lives. We can ask God for the passion to turn away from those things in ourselves and cling to what is good.
Take Off the Mask
This week's practice is confession. Hiding our sin trains us to settle for people thinking we are okay. It is like driving an expensive car while being unable to pay the bills. The appearance becomes more important than the reality.
Be that genuine person. Stop being a hypocrite.
Confession means agreeing with the Holy Spirit. Take the one thing he is pressing on and acknowledge it before God. Be specific about what you are holding onto and where you need to let him work.
Share it with someone you trust. If you are not ready to share widely, begin in house church and ask a trusted person to pray over that specific thing. A general request for humility can leave the actual struggle hidden. Share what you can honestly entrust to that person. Do not overshare to prove your boldness; trust grows as we practise honesty together.
Take two minutes of silence. God already knows who you are. You can stop wearing the mask and let him work with what is real.
Guys, let's be genuine. Let's be real. It is okay. He will not turn you away. He will not reject you. So come.
