1 John 4:17-19
Growing up with two
older brothers, I consistently had two coaches, mentoring me in sports - mostly
basketball. While I learned much from both of them, the key thing I remember is
Jonathan telling me the importance of perfecting my shot.
Jonathan would lie
in bed at night, flicking his right wrist in a shooting motion — the exact same
way every time — sometimes with a basketball and sometimes without. He was
perfecting his shot, even while falling asleep. He urged me to to do the same.
I never did.
The small Christian
school Jonathan and I played for didn't keep much for records, but I have no
doubt in my mind that Jonathan had the best shooting percentage in school
history. Sure, he missed plenty of times, but that wasn't the point. Michael
Jordan missed over 9,000 shots in his career, but I would still argue that he
had perfected the game of basketball.
By his senior year
of high school, Jonathan had perfected his shot, while my shot was still as
flat and ugly as Iowa (no offense).
Perfecting Love
Any time the Bible
calls us to some sort of perfection, it's easy to do one of two things: 1.
dismiss it for meaning a goal for which we must shoot but will certainly never
attain or 2. meaning absolute perfection, which drives us to depression.
1 John 4:17 says
this: "Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness
in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world."
Love has been
perfected among us. There's that word. Perfect. Perfect love. Who could
possibly have perfect love?
Think of the word
"perfect" less from a results standpoint, and more from a action
standpoint. The result of Jonathan's shooting was not perfect, but his shot was
perfect.
Perfecting the way
you love is very possible for two main reasons.
- Love has very little to do with emotions.
Think back to
basketball. Jonathan did not make shots because he was "really feeling
it" or "really wanted to win." He made shots because he
practiced. If anything, emotions are one of the things that most often get in
the way of playing your best basketball.
When we love based
solely on emotions, we do no love long and we do not love well. People and
circumstances will constantly get in our way, giving us excuses to not love.
- Love comes from God
Love does not come
from emotions. It comes from and is sustained by God alone. As we've talked
about several times before, when we abide in Him, we will reap the benefits of
his character — love being chief among these. We cannot attain perfected love
on our own, but with Almighty God abiding in us, it is far from impossible.
Jonathan showed me
how to shoot the perfect shot, my knees bending slightly, then straightening in
a smooth motion as my feet left the ground, my elbows at a 90-degree angle,
swooping in front of my face, my hands holding the ball just above my head — left
hand on the side, right hand in front of me. As I reach the zenith of my
ascent, my elbows straighten — left elbow to 45 degrees, right elbow
completely, my right wrist flicking the ball toward the empty net which my eyes
are locked on. The last part of me to touch the ball is my middle finger,
rubbing gently against the rubber, sending the ball in a perfectly straight backwards spin,
arcing in such a way that were it to keep arcing it might form a perfect circle.
That is the perfect
basketball shot.
I know this, but my
shot is still far from perfect? Why?
Note this, the
presence of knowledge, by no means, implies that the knower cares anything for
the entity of the knowledge. I cared more about my free time and my bed time
than I cared about practicing my shot. I cared more about playing H.O.R.S.E
with Jonathan than I cared about learning from him.
We treat our
Christian walk the same way. We love certain times with Jesus. We love singing
inspirational songs in the same way that I love watching inspirational
basketball movies. We love going on missions trips in the same way that I love
playing a pickup game with the guys. But we do not excel in practicing. We do
not excel in the process of perfecting. We have the knowledge. We are in the
program. But we are not willing to practice.
Awaiting the Judgment
Why do we seek to
perfect our love? First and foremost, it's commanded. But let's take a closer
look at what John says in 4:17.
"Love has been
perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment;
because as He is, so are we in this world."
How can you tell if
someone spent the summer practicing their basketball skills?
Play a game. You
will be able to tell if they stayed in shape or if they worked on their shot.
There is coming a
judgment when our practicing or lack of will be revealed. Imagine standing
before the One who spilled His blood to give you a second chance in life. If He
came now, and didn't care about how many hours you spent in church activities,
didn't care how emotionally you sang songs, didn't care how many Bible verses
you memorized and didn't care if you had a degree in Theology — all He cared
about was how well you practiced loving (with your words and actions) the
people on earth that you were not inclined to love. When your summer on earth
is done, and the Almighty wants to know how well you practiced for
eternity…what will you say? Will you be ashamed?
When we show love to
the unlovable, like Christ showed His love for us, then we know we have
experienced His love in us. And when we know we have experienced His love in
us, then we know that we need not fear the day of judgment. We need have no
fear, because Oh, the depths of His unfathomable love!
But. If we do not
show love to our co-workers, to our in-laws and to the picketers and the
lesbian couple, and to the Muslim man and the beggar on the street and the IRS
man at the door and President Obama and our neighbor and that person who just
popped into your head…THEN…then you have reason to fear the day of judgment,
because it is very possible that the love of God has never entered your heart.
Examine yourself.