The Importance of Love in Christianity

• Comparison of world religions.
  1. For Judaism – Faithfulness
  2. For Hinduism – Liberation
  3. For Buddhism – Awakening
  4. For Islam – Submission
  5. For Christianity – LOVE
• Mention of relevant passages.
  1. It was the PROOF - 
     1. John 13:35 (NLT) — 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
     2. 1 John 4:20 (NLT) — 20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
  2. It was DEMANDED - Revelation 2:4 (NLT) — 4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
• Warning against losing love as the cornerstone of Christianity.
• Speaking truth without love.
• Claiming Christ but being unfriendly, unkind, unwelcoming, and unhelpful.

Types of Love

• Love that WELCOMES
  • Love feast: All are welcome, all have a seat at the table, and fellowship.
  • Overcomes barriers
    1. Free and slave; rich and poor; educated and uneducated; Jew and Gentile
    2. Galatians 3:28–29 (NLT) — 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
  • Love that brings others in
    1. We can only handle so many relationships - Dunbar’s Number
       1. 5 intimate friends
       2. 15 close friends
       3. 50 good friends or regular contacts
    2. Protect vs Expand
    3. Open party
    4. Quote the story of the great banquet - “Go into the highways and byways and compel them to come so that my house will be filled.”
  • The world is starving for community. 
  • Will we be the type of church that gives it to them?
  • Example – added living room for church functions  
• Love that FORGIVES
  • Jewish Mantra - Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth
  • Roman culture - Dignitas was connected to vengeance, and lack of vengeance was considered weakness. 
  • Jesus culture - 
    1. Luke 23:34 (NLT) — 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” 
    2. Acts 7:60 (NLT) — 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.
  • The early church was known for forgiving enemies, those that persecuted, even killed their family and friends. In this they modeled Jesus, who said, Father, forgive them.
  • Stephen the example - We see this in the life of Stephen, who was martyred. He carried this same DNA.
  • Rwanda - forgiveness; Stephen Gahigi
  • The way of the world, revenge, the way of the church, release. 
• Love that SACRIFICES
  • Sacrifice for one another 
    1. Selling possessions to make sure each other was cared for
  • Sacrifice for the lowly
    1. Rescuing babies thrown in trash heaps
    2. Cyprian of Carthage
  • This point combines the two points of love that stays behind and the love that goes down when everyone else goes up.. Here is where I can work

IV. Conclusion

• 1 Corinthians 13:1–2 (NLT) — 1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
• A mothers love is Welcoming, Forgiving, and Sacrificing
• God’s love for you is Welcoming, Forgiving, and Sacrificing