the anti one anothers
You know, I think all of us understand that this is a sin-stained world, and that each of us is a sin-stained person interacting with and relating to other sin-stained people.
What do you expect might happen in that kind of combination?
And this isn’t merely an outside-the-church description of humanity, but an inside-the-church description of humanity. Haven’t we all experienced hurt from other sinners inside the walls of the church?
But, again, what do we expect?
Pastor Ray Ortlund presses his finger squarely on this reality in a recent post over at The Gospel Coalition. With great cleverness, he gives us the anti one anothers. What are those, you may ask?
Well, if you’ve been a churchman or Christian for any length of time, you’ve probably heard of the “one anothers” that we find in the Scriptures. You know, all those ways that we should treat one another. Love one another, care for one another, encourage one another, and so on.
Unfortunately, because we’re sin-stained people in a sin-stained world, there is this whole list of anti one anothers that exist in the church. And they exist there because its almost as if people actually believe they are the kind of behaviors that God wants them to engage in, when actually they’re the kind of actions we’ve all been stung by.
And Ray is on a mission to bring them to the surface, and root them out.
We’d be wise to read him below,
listen,
ponder,
and live differently.
It’s what the world needs.
The beautiful “one another” commands of the New Testament are famous. But it is also striking to notice the “one anothers” that do not appear there.
For example, sanctify one another, humble one another, scrutinize one another, pressure one another, embarrass one another, corner one another, interrupt one another, defeat one another, sacrifice one another, shame one another, marginalize one another, exclude one another, judge one another, run one another’s lives, confess one another’s sins . . . .
The kind of God we really believe in is revealed in how we treat one another. The lovely gospel of Jesus positions us to treat one another like royalty, and every non-gospel positions us to treat one another like dirt. But we will follow through horizontally on whatever we really believe vertically.
Our relationships with one another reveal to us what we really believe as opposed to what we think we believe, our convictions as opposed to our opinions. It is possible for the gospel to remain at the shallow level of opinion, even sincere opinion, without penetrating to the deeper level of conviction. But when the gospel grips us down in our convictions, we embrace its implications wholeheartedly. Therefore, when we mistreat one another, our problem is not a lack of surface niceness but a lack of gospel depth. What we need is not only better manners but, far more, true faith.
Then the watching world might start feeling that Jesus himself has come to town:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:34-35)
