You're My Brother You're My Sister
1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
A Chrisian song from the 1970's has some poignant lyrics that should stir all of us. Why? Those lyrics call us out as believers and shows us HOW we should be if we are going to stand together. The lyrics of the Russ Taff Song are listed below.
Sometimes it's hard for me to understand why we pull away from each other so easily
even though were all workin' the same road Yet we build dividing walls between our
brothers and ourselves, but I, I don't care What label you wear, but you believe in Jesus
You belong with me, In God we share And all I care to see is that we'll change the world forever You will join with me, join and sing, sing... Chorus: You're my brother you're my sister
so take me by the hand Together we will work until He comes There's no foe that can defeat us We're walkin' side by side As long as there is Love We will stand.
The words of this song are true "in theory." But this is more than a theory per the scripture listed above. The scripture says that we will know what love is if we truly realize what Christ did in laying down His life on the cross for you and me. When we "get" that truth figured out and prioritized in our thinking then we will know and realize how to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Such a short, small verse with so much pure truth in it, but a verse that is many times not seen in the fellowships we call churches all over our country.
Is it me or have we departed from the basic truth of the cross and many other pure truths and contributed to the ongoing "political correctness" movement by allowing it to influence our attitudes about the cross, the burial, and the resurrection? I knew of a church's youth group that built a new youth building and when it was suggested they put scriptures in framed pictures in the hallway the youth pastor said it wasn't "cool" to do that in a youth building! What!! And if you question that kind of "blasphemy" the "woke" people will jump on you like you are ancient and out of touch!! If that is called out of touch, then bring it on!! Here is what 1 John 2:15-17 says 5 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
Maybe John the Baptist isn't going to be the only "voice crying in the wilderness!" If you lift up the name of Jesus and the truth of the Bible you may be considered "out of touch" and not trendy enough to be relevant, but keep on lifting up the Word of God and our Savior Jesus Christ!! Many are leaving the modern day church because of a lack of love in our fellowships and the ignoring of such scriptures as the one listed at the beginning of this blog. We must try to keep the Word of God and the love of Jesus as our center in what we call a fellowship, AKA the church. This love for brothers and sisters in Christ is premiere in this whole thing we call "a fellowship!" Oh we can call it a fellowship, a house church, a church building, or anything we want, but it must draw brothers and sisters closer together and not apart!! The means to an end begin with the realization of the power of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God. Everything lines up behind that awesome truth that is the cohesion of the church and the life that compels us to be active as the church alive!!!
In praying and asking God for Revival and Awakening in His Church we must be willing to be honest about our attitdue about the Lord's church. Some have fallen away from the Lord's work and the church and may never come back. John goes on in verses 18 and 19
and warns about the last days results of people leaving the Lord's church by saying 18 Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.19 These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.
As you can see John doesn't pull any punches when it comes to his warning about the last days before the return of Christ. It comes down to us. Do we love our brothers and sisters in Christ? Then we must stand together and tell the world about Jesus and show what true love really is in light of what Christ did on the cross. It may not be politically correct, but it is definitely Biblically correct. For believers it is our battle cry and the battle is raging. Join other brothers and sisters and get in the mix and there you will find others who are willing to fight for the truth of the Word of God and for the gospel. Romans 1:16 16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.
The Pilgrimage continues.....
David Warren