(Rev. Chris Cook has served as Pastor at Parkade Baptist Church in Columbia, MO for the last twenty years.)
Growing up in church, one of the first Bible verses I was taught to memorize was John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” In that one Bible verse, the Bible reveals the clear and concise motivation behind God’s gift of His Son Jesus at Christmas. He gave because He loves the world.
As people created in God’s image, we are created with the potential to love as God loves. To say that we have the potential to love implies that we must grow and develop that ability. Of course, it is easy to love people who think like us, and talk like us. But when the Bible says, “For God so loved the world” it is revealing to us that God’s capacity to love is great. He doesn’t just love people like you and me. He loves people who have different worldviews, who maybe speak a different language, and live in a different culture.
As a Pastor I am sometimes challenged by those who want to keep our mission work locally. “Why go to another city, another state or another country when we have needs right here at home,” they say. While we should not ignore the needs of those around us, there is great value in giving to, going to, and serving others who are different than us. By stepping into a different culture, where people think differently and live differently, we grow our capacity to love the world as God loves the world.
Several years ago, I traveled to the country of Ukraine. It was a stretch for me to go to a country that was once a part of the Soviet Union because I grew up during the cold war, hearing about how anti-American the Soviets were. After spending a week helping train Ukrainian seminary students and preaching in Ukrainian churches, however, I began to see how many of the Ukrainian Christians want to serve Jesus like I do. Because of our common faith in Jesus, I was able to see firsthand how their values as Christ-followers aligned with my values as a Christ-follower. It was a powerful experience for me, one in which God used to increase the capacity of my heart to love the world as He loves the world.
Each year now, I look forward to traveling to Eastern Europe and serving alongside my Easter European brothers and sisters in Christ because I know that God is using those experiences to grow my capacity to love the world.
I still have a lot of room to grow. I suspect I will never reach the capacity to love as God loves, but I don’t want to risk being stale and stagnant in my relationship with God by failing to grow my love potential.
As we observe Advent once again this year, this is an opportunity for us to reflect on how God stepped out of the glories and comfort of Heaven, put on human flesh, took on the form of a servant and came to serve sinful humanity. As we remember this great Advent truth, let’s be challenged to “JUST JUMP” at opportunities to leave our comfort zone and go and serve others who may have a different worldview, speak a different language and/or live in a different culture. By doing so, we are not only imitating God’s love in our action, but we are also growing our capacity to love the world as He loves the world.
