James Meehan - Disciple of Jesus, Love One Another
- Watch
- Audio
- Get involved
— Welcome to Switch Uncut. My name is James, this is Caitlyn, and today we're talking about the Bible, the B-I-B-L-E because that's the book for me. Caitlyn, what's your favorite book of the Bible?
— Such a good question. I've been literally stuck in John forever in a day.
— Whoa.
— John 15 specifically is just so good.
— That's so good because I was gonna make a joke about how whatever you said is gonna be what we're gonna talk about but that's not true. But the guy who wrote the book you said is the same guy who wrote.
— Yes.
— The letter we're talking about today. What we're doing today is we're jumping into first John chapter two, to wrestle with what do these words mean?
— Yeah.
— Not just what do they say, but what do they mean? And how does that change the way that we're meant to live as followers of Jesus?
— Come on.
— Because that's what we do here on Switch Uncut.
— Yep.
— We take passages of the Bible, we break them down to try to draw out the meaning of them, and figure out what does that look like for us as followers of Jesus in our modern world? How do we follow Jesus faithfully based on the wisdom of scripture that was written long time ago but it's still true and powerful and relevant to our lives today?
— Yep.
— So to start off, we'll be in first John chapter two versus three through 11 in the NIV, the New International Version. Caitlyn, were you in the NLT?
— Yep.
— The NLT, New Living Translation, also a really good translation.
— Yes.
— But the NIV, that's the one I memorized this one verse in, so that's why we're there.
— Nice, okay, cool. I'm now in the correct Bible translation.
— Take it away.
— Here we go. Verse three, "We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands. Whoever says, I know Him but not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know where we are in Him. Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did. Dear friends, I'm not writing you a new command but an old one, which is one you've had since the beginning this old command is the message you have heard, yet I am writing you a new command, it's truth is seen in Him and in you because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they're going because the darkness has blinded them".
— My goodness, that passage is so good.
— Yes.
— We're gonna break it down in a second, but first we're gonna look at the context. Who's the author, who's the audience, and what was the point they were trying to get across to their audience?
— Yeah.
— Well, this is first John chapter two, the author is John, a disciple of Jesus. Specifically the John who wrote the gospel of John who was one of Jesus' first disciples. He walked with Him, learned from Him, did life with Him. He was there every step of the way, he was an eyewitness to the resurrection. This John, years later as he is now a pastor overseeing a bunch of different churches spread throughout the Roman Empire is writing this letter to a group of Christians spread throughout the Roman Empire. And many believe that specifically this letter was written to a community of Christians who a lot of the people that were a part of that church had actually walked away. They had said, "I don't know if I'm still gonna do this Jesus thing". And so now you've got this group of believers who are really discouraged and John is writing to hopefully encourage them.
— That's good.
— And what's interesting is there's some people who speculate that some of those Christians who had walked away, I guess probably former Christians were making the claim that, "No, like I still love God, I still know God, I'm just not doing that whole Jesus thing". And so what John is trying to do here is bring some clarity to these Christians about what really it is that makes us followers of Jesus. And so what we're gonna do is walk through this passage and ask that question. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?
— Yeah.
— Because following Jesus is not really like following somebody on Instagram, or Twitter or anywhere else, it is so much bigger and so much better than that. So Caitlyn, will you read for us again first John chapter two, three through six.
— Yeah, okay, here we go. "We know that we have come to Him if we keep His commands, whoever says, I know Him but does not do what He commands is a liar and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him. Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did. That's some strong, strong words coming from John".
— I know and this... And this is why I love it so much, 'cause John is not pulling punches.
— No.
— Like he is very direct that the way we know, if we actually know Jesus.
— Yeah.
— Is if we keep His commands.
— Come on.
— If we do what He says.
— Yep.
— But if we claim to know Him but we don't do what He says, then that means we are liars.
— Yep.
— I don't know about you, but I don't always do the things that Jesus says. I don't always obey God perfectly.
— Wow.
— And so what John is doing here is he's opening our eyes to the fact that yeah, we're liars.
— Wow.
— The truth of God isn't fully in us, because as we've talked about previously, the truth is as human beings we are all infected by a disease of sin. Like this disease called sin.
— Right.
— It's a disease of self centeredness that bends our desires away from what is good and towards ourselves.
— Yeah.
— And that disease has infected all of us. Now, thankfully because of Jesus, we are being healed of that disease.
— Yep.
— But old habits die hard.
— Yep.
— Learning to live as a follower of Jesus takes time, we've gotta be patient. Now thankfully, God is immensely patient with us.
— Yep.
— He doesn't just write us off instantly when we do something wrong, or when we disobey him.
— Right.
— He is so gracious, so merciful, so kind.
— Yep.
— But here's the important thing that we've gotta ask the question. Are we actually trying to do what He says?
— Right.
— Are we actually trying to obey Him? Because verse six, "Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did". I don't think this means that we have to be perfect because if we had to be perfect then none of us would actually be followers of Jesus and grace wouldn't be a thing.
— Right.
— I don't think that's what it means. I think it means we have to actually bring our best every day and do what we can to become a little bit more like Jesus.
— Yeah. Because following starts with believing.
— Yeah.
— But it doesn't stop short of obeying. I think that's a really important thing for us to wrap our minds around that following Jesus is not the same thing as following your favorite influencer on TikTok, where you just consume their content.
— Right.
— Maybe like, or leave a comment.
— Right.
— Following Jesus is about committing your entire life to Him and His mission and allowing the Holy Spirit to change you from the inside out so you actually become more like Him.
— That's good. I'm glad that you said the whole, it doesn't mean we have to be perfect thing. 'Cause that's the question that was in my mind, I was like, dang, if I'm a liar, unless I'm doing everything that Jesus says.
— Come on.
— That must mean I have to be perfect, but it looks like what you're saying in verse six, whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did. If I'm making a claim.
— Yeah.
— Hopefully that means I've examined my motives.
— 100%
— And I think that that is what we're being invited into. Not necessarily being perfect because grace.
— Right.
— But examining my motives.
— Yeah.
— And am I showing up every single day with the purity of intention.
— Yeah.
— To live like Jesus did?
— Right, and the cool thing is that if you read the rest of this letter, it's super short, John goes on and on and on about the love and grace of God. And so we know that love and grace is a part of the picture. This passage specifically though is confronting our commitment to Him.
— Yeah.
— And it's something that needs to be confronted.
— That's good.
— Because if we're not careful, our faith in Jesus can become so complacent that it's not really faith anymore.
— Right, wow. Okay, so, "To understand what it is that Jesus has commanded us to do". It looks like we're gonna read the next couple of verses.
— Come on seven and eight.
— Okay, "Dear friends, I'm not writing you a new command, but an old one which you've had since the beginning, this old command is the message you have heard yet I am writing you a new command. Its truth is seen in Him and in you because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining". All right, a little confusing John.
— Oh, Johnny boy
— He's throw punches and now he's just being confusing.
— Yeah.
— There's a new command and an old one.
— Well, it starts with it's not a new one.
— But it's not new.
— But it's an old one. But then it is new.
— But it's also new.
— What is happening here?
— Here's what I think John is doing when he says I'm not writing you a new command, but an old one which you've had since the beginning. I think what John is doing is he's referring back to.
— Yeah.
— What has been the dominant commands taught throughout scripture, love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. That's found all the way back in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. And then to during Jesus' ministry when He was asked multiple times what is the most important command He would say.
— Yep.
— Love God with all your heart with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself. So I think that's what John is referring to here.
— Yeah, that's good.
— But then what's this about the new command?
— Right.
— I think what he's referencing is the new command Jesus gives in John chapter 13 at a meal known as the last supper.
— Yeah.
— Where Jesus and His disciples are celebrating Passover, remembering how God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt so long ago. And looking forward to how God would save them from slavery to sin in less than 24 hours through Jesus' death.
— Yeah.
— On the cross.
— Yeah.
— Jesus says this, "I'm giving you a new command to love one another in the same way that I have loved you, so you are to love one another, by this the world will know you're my disciples". So what Jesus is saying is I'm giving you a new command but it's actually an old one.
— Yeah.
— It's the command to love one another, love your neighbor as yourself but the newness of it.
— Yeah.
— Is now not just love your neighbor as yourself but love one another the same way that Jesus has loved us. And He loves us humbly, He loves us sacrificially and He loves us unconditionally.
— Yeah.
— That is the calling that we've been given, that is the new command.
— Yeah.
— That's really just an old command, but clarified.
— Yeah.
— And made more complete because of the example of Jesus.
— That's good. He, in that chapter that I told you that I've been reading constantly.
— John 15?
— John 15. Jesus says the same thing that you're saying.
— Yeah.
— He's like, this is my command. This is how you remain in my love.
— Come on.
— You do what I say.
— Come on.
— And here's what I say, "Love others the same way that I have loved you". So, A, I love Jesus' consistency.
— Come on, yeah, yeah.
— Like He's telling the same story all the way through.
— Yep.
— And that is how we remain in Jesus' love.
— So good.
— Is we do what He says. And what does He say? He says, love others.
— He says a lot of good things.
— He really does.
— But the thing He says most love one another.
— It's so good.
— Next passage.
— Next passage. All right, verse nine, "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they're going because the darkness has blinded them".
— Oh, it's so good.
— We're back to throw punches.
— I just love it. 'Cause again, what John is doing here is he's writing to a group of discouraged Christians because some of the former believers that were a part of their community have walked away.
— Yeah.
— They've abandoned the things of God but they're still claiming to know God, and to love God. They're just rejecting everything that comes with that.
— Yikes.
— How often do we do the same thing?
— Yikes.
— Where we pick and choose the parts of Christianity that feel good to us? And we kind of leave aside the parts that are laying down our lives. I think this is what's really important for us to remember, is that following Jesus isn't just about getting what we want.
— Right?
— It's about becoming the kind of person who can love God with every part of who we are, and love others the same way that He has loved us.
— Right.
— This is what John's getting at. And the thing that's interesting to note is that even after we accept a relationship with Jesus, we will still struggle with the temptation to choose our good over the greater good. To do things for us instead of doing things for others. But what's important is that if we find ourselves in a situation where we are actually hating, we're doing harm, we are doing violence to our brothers and sisters in Christ, then what we're revealing is our faith really isn't in Jesus and it's in something else.
— Sure.
— And so this is what he's confronting, that we are still allowing ourselves to be slaves to sin and darkness. But here's the good news, is that because of Jesus, there is light.
— Yeah.
— And there is life that has been made available to all mankind.
— Yeah.
— When John starts his gospel in chapter one he writes that in Jesus was life and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And so even as we're going on this journey of pursuing Jesus who is the light, we will trip, we will stumble, we will fumble, we will get things wrong all the time but His grace is enough for us. And if we continue to follow Him as closely as we can, what He's gonna do is He's going to allow His light to shine into our dark places.
— Yeah.
— His life will fill our dead bones so that we can live as true sons and daughters of God, as true disciples of Him, as people who claim to live in Him.
— Yeah.
— And actually model the way of life that He laid down for us.
— Yeah.
— And all of that is possible because of who Jesus is and everything that He's done.
— That's so good. It makes me think of that verse, I think it's in Psalm 119 where it says, "Your word is a limp to my feet".
— Come on.
— "And a light to my path".
— Yeah.
— And who is Jesus? Jesus is the word.
— Yeah, yeah.
— And so the closer that we stick to Jesus, the more illuminated our path will be.
— Yeah.
— And we won't be stumbling around in the darkness like John is talking about.
— Come on. So, are you really committed to following Jesus? That's the question.
— That is the question.
— And that's the question that I'm confronted with. Because like we do on this show, we take a passage of scripture, we examine it, we wrestle with it, we talk about it and then we wanna reflect.
— Yeah.
— And ask the question, what does the Holy Spirit want us to do with this?
— Yeah.
— What are the things in us that we want to let go away?
— Yeah.
— And what are the things that we want Jesus to bring to new life?
— Yeah.
— And so Caitlyn for you, start us off.
— Yeah.
— What's God showing you through this?
— So the thing that is really confronting me is this idea that I'm called to love people the same way that Jesus has loved me. And how has Jesus loved me?
— Come on.
— He says, "Greater love has no one this".
— Yeah.
— "Than to lay down their life for one's friends". And like, what does that mean for me? I think the thing that I'm learning is what Paul says Philippians two.
— Yep.
— Which is, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition".
— Come on.
— "Or vain conceit, but in humility consider others more significant than yourself". And if I'm being super, super honest, I couldn't give you any kind of lengthy list of people that I actually truly consider more significant than me.
— Right, 'cause you're a big deal. I'm a big deal, we're all a big deal.
— But more than I want to cling to the perception of my own significance.
— Yeah, yeah, yeah.
— I want to become like Jesus.
— Come on dude.
— And so that is what I have been wrestling with is like, man Jesus pull out the things and the spaces and the places in me where I am choosing my own significance over loving like Jesus.
— Yeah, that's so good. It it's funny 'cause for me it's a really similar thing, because if the this is the thing.
— Yeah.
— Loving others the same way that Jesus has loved us. If that's the thing then how did Jesus love people?
— Yeah.
— And how closely does my love for people look like that?
— Right.
— I have been trying to memorize first Corinthians 13, four through eight which is this paragraph where the apostle Paul defines love.
— Yeah.
— And all of the attributes that it's associated with.
— He says, love is patient, love is kind, and then he says a bunch of other things. Like I'm not even there yet because I'm struggling with being patient and kind to people.
— Yeah.
— So true.
— And so if those are the first two words, than the apostle Paul uses to describe love. Are those the first two words that people use to describe me?
— Come on.
— Yep, probably not. So that's the thing that I'm being convicted of.
— Wow.
— How can I better embody the patience and kindness that God has shown to me?
— Yeah.
— And show that to others.
— Yeah.
— Because if we are in this journey of pursuing Jesus, or following Him, not like somebody on social media but like we're playing that game follow the leader.
— Yeah.
— Where the goal is to do, and say and be everything the leader does. If that's what this is really like.
— Right.
— Then I wanna learn how to love like Jesus does.
— Come on.
— And so I'm asking God to help my love be more patient.
— Yeah.
— And kind, and not envious, not self-seeking, not dishonoring others, but actually choosing to rejoice with what's good and what's true.
— Yep.
— And not delighting in my own selfish desires.
— Right.
— And so that's the thing that I feel like God is teaching me is analyzing honestly how far.
— Yeah.
— The love I have.
— Yeah.
— Is from the love that God has.
— Yeah, wow! So as you're hearing this, what questions are you asking yourself? How can you take this passage, hold it up like a lens and look at your heart in your life.
— Come on.
— And allow God to say, "Hey, there's a spot that doesn't yet look like Jesus".
— Come on.
— We wanna know how He's working on you and in your life, so comment down below, ask questions, being community with each other and wrestle through this together because we know that life change is going to happen when we have these kind of conversations.
— Absolutely.
— And the good news is, is that as God is finding and pointing out and rooting out those things in you, he's gonna do patiently and kindly.
— Yeah, come on.
— Because that's in the same letter that John tells us that God is love.
— Yeah.
— And so his correction will always be patient, it'll always be kind and it will always be loving. So, thanks for joining us and we'll be back next week.
— See you guys.
— See you.