Christ’s love requires more than cordial regards. The Father’s affections are far more intimate than a hug or a handshake alone can convey. Holy Spirit needs no facilitator or mediator, just an audience and, on a occasion, a mouthpiece.

Recently, I’ve been transitioning from a wilderness terrain, in which I felt distanced from community, into a mountain top terrain, in which I’m being refreshed and restored by God’s shekinah glory. In the midst of this transition the Lord has been inspiring some thought about how we followers of Jesus should love others, because I’ve been in a place of separation. Thus, the Lord has been highlighting circumstances in which I place contingencies on my love. Jesus has been identifying relationships in which I shy away from investing genuine intimacy and affection, especially for fear of a lack of reciprocated investment. Perhaps the most jostling and even convicting revelation I’ve stepped into during this time is that we, the Church, project our modern society’s model of formalized systems of caring upon the “church,” thus making it an institution through which services are rendered. Although, these formalized systems produce a lot of good, they are not comprehensive to the needs of the people. Therefore, we the Church must be prepared to move beyond the flowcharts and systems of formal service, and engage in honest, non-presumptuous, intimate relationships with people - the rich, the poor, the fatherless, the college student, and the fast-food restaurant employee alike - equally. I cannot go to the salvation army once a week, shake a man’s hand, shove a bible in his hand, and then let the charity’s employees worry about his unfulfilled dreams, unsatisfied hunger, and lack of shelter. Likewise, I cannot live in a house full of people and avoid investing time, physical resources and thought in them, then say that I love them. Moreover, I cannot honestly say I am a follower of Christ if I do not seek to love people to the best of my ability.

In the midst of relationship Holy Spirit inspires, speaks, convicts, encourages, affirms, among many other things. Thus, it is precisely because God is how we know what love is and learn to love others, that Holy Spirit is the crux of relationship. So, it is by the direction of Holy Spirit that we learn to love the very best we can. Herein, Holy Spirit teaches us individually to love uniquely.

We must commit ourselves to one another, in covenantal solidarity. We must forgive one another, whatever the offense. We must empower one another rather than grasping for power over each other. We must embrace one another affectionately in thought and action without fear of rejection.

MARANATHA

My heart is jaded, God. Restore hope. Send peace. Awaken joy. I trust you.

To love is to recognize the sovereignty and relevance of Christ’s body and blood in all of my relationships. It is to recognize that Christ has purchased autonomy and liberty for us, not bondage and condemnation (between wife and husband, brother and sister, parent and child, friends and strangers). All the gifts I receive from Christ’s sacrifice are mine to sow and to harvest (in different capacities) with others. This is love without contingency or limitation. 

By Shane Claiborne

We must be careful in all our talk about liturgical prayer not to rule out the spontaneous moves of the Spirit. Just as liturgical traditions have much to offer us by way of roots, the charismatic and Pentecostals have much to offer us in zeal and passion. Tradition and innovation go together in God’s kingdom. Jesus was Jewish. He went to synagogue ”as was his tradition” and celebrated holy days a such as Passover. But Jesus also healed on the Sabbath. Jesus points us to a God who is able to work within institutions and order, a God who is too big to be confined. God is constantly coloring outside the lines. Jesus challenges the structures that oppress and exclude, and busts through any traditions that put limitations on love. Love cannot be harnessed. 

Liturgy is public poetry and art. You can make beautiful art by splashing paint on a wall, and you can also make art with the careful diligence of a sculptor. Both can be lovely, and both can be ugly. Both can be marketed and robbed of their original touch, and both have the potential to inspire and move people to do something beautiful for God. So it is with worship. More important than whether something is old or new, winsome or classic is whether it is real. The Scriptures tell us to “test the spirits,” and the true test of the spirit of a thing is whether it moves us closer to God and to our suffering neighbor. Does it have fruit outside of our own good feeling? Beauty must hearken to something beyond us. It should cause us to do something beautiful for God in the world.