THE WILL TO LOVE - Vital Christianity

10D. L. Moody painfully recognized in his day the inconsistency of the Church is notholding to the necessity of love. He observed:“If love don’t prompt all work, all work is for naught. If a man in the churchain’t sound in his faith, we draw our ecclesiastical sword and cut his headright off; but he may not be sound in love, yet we do nothing in his case. Thegreat want in our churches is the want of love in them.”Today, ninety years later, this is still the “great want” of the Church.Paul wrote to the Christians at Colossae that he struggled for them so that they would be“united in love” (Col 2:2). Peter in writing to believers facing persecution said, “Finally all ofyou, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate andhumble” (1 Pe 3:8).I do not believe that Christians will ever organize their churches I exactly the same way,worship God in exactly the same way, believe precisely the same things, because as Paul pointedout, “Now we see but a poor reflection” (1 Co 13:12), yet the unity which Jesus is talking abouttranscends all these differences and joins men together in love.During the Evangelical Awakening of the eighteenth century we see this point illustrated.Controversy arose over Calvinism and Arminianism. Two Englishmen, John Fletcher and JohnBerridge were on opposite sides and wrote openly against the views maintained by the other.Berridge became uncomfortable as a controversialist and gave up his attack. Fletchercontinued the debate, yet when the two men met after not seeing each other for several years,they embraced each other with both arms, as Berridge exclaimed “My dear brother!”In recording this incident, Marcus Loane states,“Never did two spirits of more kindred joy meet with each other, and for two hoursthey were absorbed in most affectionate conversations. Then they took to theirknees, which each joined in prayer of the most warm and tender spirit; it seemedalmost as if they could not bear to part.” 2The Church of Jesus Christ has suffered tremendously because her members have lovedtheir own ecclesiastical organizations, their own ritual, their own creeds more than they haveloved God and each other.Unity which is expressed by love—love for each other because of our love for Jesus—is the kind of unity which will convince the world of the truth of Christianity. That’s why Jesussaid, “All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another” (Jn 13:35).