Saturday I posted a brief quote from Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller on my facebook status. It sparked some interesting conversation that I felt like preserving and sharing here. The following is completely unedited except for the names, which I am only editing because I didn't ask for the permission to use their names, and it only seemed like the proper courteous thing to do.
(My original facebook post): The truth is we are supposed to love the hippies, liberals, and Democrats. God wants us to think of them as more important than ourselves.J: I don't care for none of the above. I love them in Christ but would have a hard time holding a conversation with them. I would prefer hippies since at least they are high and laid back. Liberals are loud and misguided. Especially ones that say I'm a Christian and a liberal democrat. I don't think you can vote for a baby killing, gay marriages approving party and run back to the cross. The Lord forgives us yes, but we need to live the life. Being associated with a party that believes that way is WRONG. I will not be friends or hang out with liberals even ones that are family.
Me: I'm curious, how does someone "love someone in Christ" if they are unwilling even to partake in conversation, one of the most basic and harmless points of human connection? Love isn't an abstract idea that we can simply claim to adhere to under religious pretext, it is a continuing state of unselfish caring, serving, and giving. Love in this is a lot like faith, you can say have faith, just as you say you have love, or you can demonstrate both at once through your actions.
J: I'm speaking of liberal Christians that are "saved". I try to talk to them about politics such as abortion, war on Christianity, and gun control. All I here is I can be a liberal and not believe in that. Or the big one is the gay argument that under the blood being gay is ok. All talk about gay being a sin is old testament. I like helping lead the lost to Christ, but it is hard when so many "Christians" have absolutely no morals. You can't pick and choose what part of the word to obey. I love a lot of people I don't talk to(see some of my family). So loving and liking are different, not mutually exclusive.
Me: I haven't learned how to love people without liking them yet, maybe someday, maybe not.
K: The truth is were supposed to love self righteous rednecks, conservatives, and republicans. Even though it can be hard at times.
L: The truth is, if "labels" keep us from loving someone, we aren't seeing them through Christ's eye. Gal 3:28
Me: And I'm pretty sure I fit into at least two of those categories most of the time!
D: Some people have to be loved from a distance. I think sometimes loving others simply means living out the Christian life within their view, and praying for them.
Me: Loving people from a distance might be possible, or even occasionally necessary, but I definitely think it is the exception and not the rule. Everything about God's love, and this Gospel that we put our hope in, revolves around the premise of God leaving heaven, to become a man. While a man Jesus modeled active involved love. He got in people's lives, often through very humbling circumstances. He loved others to the point of death, and as His follower I don't believe I have the right to do anything less.
C: As a Christian, I think the hardest to love are the Christians.
So, that's it in a nutshell. I posted this because I think it highlights a few issues that are really important for us to think about. How much are we willing to love those who are drastically different than us? Is it possible to love someone and not "like" them? I don't think it is, and personally I believe that we don't have the option of not loving people, or liking them. I'm not saying it's always easy. Heaven help me (literally) there are a few people in my family, a certain ridiculous aunt comes to mind, that make it difficult. But for those of us who claim to adhere to the Christian faith by following the teachings of Jesus, I don't think we have an option. I don't believe that God allows us an "exceptions" list. It has been my experience that if I am having trouble liking someone, it is because they have offended me in some way. It has also been my experience that if I am in any way offended, it is because I have too much pride in an area of my life.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please sound off in the comments section below.