“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” – John 15:12-13

This blog serves as part 2 of a series of entries that I’m writing on hospitality and Christian service. If you haven’t read the first part yet, I’d recommend you do so before continuing.

You can find it here – A Theology of Service: Serving Others is Experiencing God

Whom Are We to Love?  

Here is another biblical oddity.

As German theologian Gerhard Lohfink points out, “In view of contemporary Christian consciousness it comes as something of a shock to realize as an exegete that in the New Testament – if we abstract from Jesus’ sayings about love of enemy – interpersonal love almost without exception means love for one’s brother in the faith, love of Christians for one another.”[1]

While the list is long, it might be best to write out most every instance in which the New Testament commands us to display or show love.

Consider these passages, but especially what has been bolded:[2]

• “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’.” – Matthew 25:40
• “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34-35
• “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” – John 15:12-13
• “I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” – John 15:17
• “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” – Romans 12:9-10
• “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” – Romans 13:8
• “If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.” – Romans 14:15
• “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.” – Galatians 5:13-15
• “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints.” – Ephesians 1:15
• “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” – Ephesians 4:1-3
• “But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.” – Ephesians 4:15-16
• “If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” -Philippians 2:1-2
• “For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints.” -Colossians 1:4
• “For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face. I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself.” – Colossians 2:1-2
• “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.” – Colossians 3:14-15
• “Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you, so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and be dependent on no one.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
• “We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” – 2 Thessalonians 1:3
• “When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus.” – Philemon 1:4-5
• “For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.” – Hebrews 6:10
• “And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting the meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:24-25
• “Let mutual love continue.” – Hebrews 13:1
• “Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart.” – 1 Peter 1:22
• “Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” – 1 Peter 2:17
• “Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” – 1 Peter 3:8
• “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.” – 1 Peter 4:8
• “The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters. For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you knowthat murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us – and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” – 1 John 3:10-18
• “All this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” – 1 John 3:23
• “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves in born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” – 1 John 4:7-12
• “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say,” I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” – 1 John 4:17-21
• “But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you as new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another.” – 2 John 1:5

As we see, the New Testament almost overwhelmingly speaks of Christian service as that directed toward other believers. Christian love, for the most part, is a love that’s to be directed toward those already in the church.

A Few (Possible) Exceptions

But what about Jesus’ words on enemy love, or the parable of the Good Samaritan? There’s also Paul’s language in 1 Thessalonians 3 and James’ charge to care for widows and orphans, right?

Within the quote from Lofink that I cited earlier, he notes that Jesus’ language about enemy love seems to be more universal. The imagined enemies in the scenario that Jesus is portraying in Matthew 5 are likely Roman soldiers. They were the folks who might force a Jew to “go one mile (Matthew 5:41)” by way of the mandatory Roman impressment laws. Anyone 12 years or older was legally required to carry a soldier’s load for 1,000 paces if a soldier asked them to do so. Yet it should be noted that the love in which Jesus is talking about isn’t necessarily the same type of love that’s discussed later on within the biblical letters. Jesus wasn’t commanding his listeners on the mount to enter into deep relationship with these soldiers. They were merely to show them respect by “going the extra mile” as God had done so for them.

One could also argue that Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan is similar. That’s because Samaritans were Jews, just ones that had intermarried with foreigners. And the Old Testament passages that Jesus and the Pharisee discuss in Luke 10 about neighborly love isn’t talking about all people everywhere but about those “among your people (Leviticus 19:17-18).” 

1 Thessalonians 3:12 contains these encouraging words from Paul: “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for all people, just as ours does for you.” At first glance, this seems like a clear passage talking about extending love outside of the fellowship of believers.However, while some English translations include the word “people” or “men” after the word “all,” these additions are missing in the original Greek. Paul is simply telling the believers within the Thessalonian church to love one another and “all.” It would be easy to assume that the “all” is in reference to all of humanity, but Paul fills us in on who he’s talking about a chapter later. In 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10, the apostle encourages the believers within the house church he is writing to not only love one another, but all the believers throughout Macedonia. They are to love others in their church, and they’re to love others in other churches too. But when it comes to interacting with those outside the church, Paul instructs the Thessalonians to “aspire to live quietly (4:11)” and to “mind your own business (4:11).”

James’ command to “look after orphans and widows in their distress… (James 1:27)” is another favorite. It’s also another example of context being important. What widows and orphans is James referring to? While I’m sure that James wouldn’t be upset if the believers to whom he was writing extended their hospitality toward widows and orphans outside of their community, he’s likely referring to the scenario he describes in James 2:1-9 and 2:14-17. Favoritism was being shown toward rich members of their community to the neglect of the poor in their midst. James’ instruction is to flip the script and instead pay special attention to the lowly in their midst.[3]

Lastly, let us revisit a passage that we considered in the previous blog: Hebrews 13:1-2.

The author of Hebrews encourages his audience to continue to show love to one another, but also to continue to “show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13:2).” To me, this does seem like an instance in which hospitality is meant to extent outside of the community of believers. Hebrews 13:1 deals with those inside the church while 13:2 is a comment about those outside of their assembly.

Some have argued that the author of Hebrews might have had itinerant preachers and evangelists in mind when writing this, or other believers whom they have not yet met; nonetheless, it seems to me that it’s more likely that genuine strangers from outside of their fellowship are in mind. In Genesis 18, Abraham welcomed strange angels. And in the first century Greco-Roman world, hospitality to traveling strangers was a big deal. In fact, the Greek word for hospitality used here, φιλοξενία, is a smashing together of the word for brotherly love (φιλέω) and stranger (ξένος).[4]

Implications and Application

Again, with the possible exception of Hebrews 13:2, the New Testament’s command to love one another, by and large, is meant as love toward other believers.

What are we supposed to make of this?

First, I think that it is important to note that we shouldn’t read the passages about “loving one another” as exclusionary. Instead, we should understand them as describing God’s mission prerogative for his people, one marked by inclusion.

In fact, the New Testament has plenty to say about relating with people outside of the church. We are to:

• Live above reproach (1 Peter 2:11)
• Show respect to all people (1 Peter 2:17)
• Work and live honorably, so that outsiders might be impressed with our commitment (1 Thessalonians 4:12)
• Speak graciously (Colossians 4:6)
• Welcome strangers into your homes who might need lodging (Hebrews 13:2)
• Preform good deeds [for other believers] which might point curious outsiders toward our good God (1 Peter 2:12)

The New Testament’s insistence on believers loving one anther is in no way an excuse to act unkindly, or unlovingly, to unbelievers. It’s exactly the opposite.

God’s love for the world should drive us to always continue to learn how to love others within the church well. This is God’s mission prerogative. Our love for fellow Christians puts on display the type of kingdom God is ushering in. Our love for one another is also the way in which God wants to draw people to himself (1 Peter 2:12) We are to love one another, but also welcome all into our fellowship so that they too might experience God’s love and ours. 

Secondly, the same point that I made in the first blog in this serious must also be made here.

Our acts of service should first be toward other believers. Why? We aren’t called to be agents in world transformation but to be transformed ourselves. God’s desire is to work through those whom we love and serve in a way that transforms us into that which He’d like us to be.

When we love one another in the church, the church continues to grow in unity, kindness, and grace. And in doing so, we are further pressed into the image of God’s Son Jesus.  

That is to say, there nothing at all wrong with showing kindness to, or serving, folks outside of the church. We *should* be doing that. In fact, great good can come from doing so! But we shouldn’t understand outward actions as a means to cultural change.

---

[1] Gerhard Lohfink, Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), 110.

[2] This list of passages, but especially that which is emphasized is taken from: John Nugent, Endangered Gospel: How Fixing the World is Killing the Church, (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2016), 90-95.

[3] The only other place the New Testament mentions care for widows appears in Acts 6. There, a group of church leaders are appointed to care for widows who were already in the church as they had previously been neglected. For a longer explanation, see: John Nugent, Endangered Gospel: How Fixing the World is Killing the Church, (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2016), 100.

[4] C.D. Pohl, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1999): 561-563.