MAKING LOVE VISIBLE

  

When Kevin shared Christ with José, an unresponsive student, he could have considered his responsibility with José fulfilled and moved on to others. Instead, he pointed out to José that he might want a relationship with Jesus one day, so he asked him how he would find it if no one was around to tell him how. 

 

Kevin maintained a pressure-free friendship with José, and one day José hurried over to him with some exciting news: “Guess what I did last night—I decided to begin a relationship with Jesus and became a Christian!”

            

José saw in Kevin someone who genuinely cared about him and would not give up on him, and that relationship with Kevin led to changing his life.

 

Unconditional Love 

What’s the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian? In the eyes of many outside the church, not much. But when people see someone loving others unconditionally, they recognize the contrast. Whether they realize it or not, they have gotten a glimpse into God’s nature. 

            

Scripture presents love as a distinguishing mark of believers. The Greek word agape is distinct from all other Greek words for love. It describes something radically different from friendship or romantic passion. It’s a constant, lasting, unrestricted love, based not on the object but on the nature of the one who loves. It’s the unique kind of love God has for us—a no-strings-attached sort of love. His supernatural love receives us regardless of our attitudes, actions, and behaviors. And Jesus told His followers they would be known for it (John 13:35). 

            

Think about how God loves the world. Agapao is the verb in John 3:16, which famously describes the extravagant love that compelled God to send His Son to die for us. This is how we are to love people, even if they engage in bad behavior, reject us, tell off-color jokes, moon a youth group (an unfortunate real-life experience), or even make fun of Jesus. It’s natural to love those who treat us well. It’s supernatural to love those who don’t.

           

If you struggle with receiving and/or giving that kind of love, or if you want more of it, the first step is to ask God for it. He is delighted to fill up His children with it until they overflow. He may need to heal some old wounds or correct some false perceptions in the process, but He wants you to experience it fully and give it freely.

 

Channels of Love

Along with embracing apape love, it’s also important to distinguish between loving people with an agenda—i.e., in order to “win” them to Christ, use them for some purpose, etc.—rather than loving them simply because we have God’s supernatural love inside of us. When we let go of our agendas and just love people, we can trust God’s work in their lives, even if it doesn’t look like we expect it to look. 

            

Beyond that, Scripture gives us clear instructions on how to love students unconditionally: “The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5). In actively embracing those three elements—a pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith—we become channels of God’s love. 

 

1. A pure heart. Count Zinzendorf, the leader of the 18th century Moravian movement, began a round-the-clock prayer meeting that lasted a hundred years, and in many ways launched the modern missions movement. He famously stated, “I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone.” The Lord led Zinzendorf to disciple Peter Bohler, who witnessed to John Wesley, which led to his heart being “strangely warmed.” The enormous fruitfulness that came from Zinzendorf’s singular passion cannot be overestimated. He had a pure heart focused on one consuming passion. 

            

Someone with a pure heart is single-minded, dedicated, and eager to deal with anything that gets in the way of his passion. This would include quickly confessing sin so it does not become a hindrance to fruitfulness. God promises to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness when we confess our sin (1 John 1:9). Those with a pure heart are not perfect, but they have swept their hearts clean and prioritized God’s presence and power over all other desires. They willingly let go of anything that gets in the way of pursuing God’s best and are motivated exclusively by their devotion to Jesus. 

            

Today’s students can sniff out hypocrisy a mile away. Now more than ever, students need to know that Jesus is real, and they will see that reality in our passion for God.

 

2. A good conscience. God’s love flows through unclogged, free-flowing channels. Only when we have a clean conscience can the Lord flow through us. That means making any wrong relationships right—seeking reconciliation, asking for and receiving forgiveness. This is rarely easy. 

            

One of the hardest things I ever did was to go to a professor and confess that I had cheated in his class. But when he forgave me, it was one of most freeing experiences I have ever had. I had a clean conscience.

            

The Bible strongly emphasizes how important this is: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). In order to open the channel of God’s unconditional love to others, including students, we need to make all of our relationships right. 

 

3. A sincere faith. A faith that is sincere—literally meaning “without hypocrisy”—opens up the spigot of God’s unconditional love flowing through our lives. People who have genuine faith not only believe but also live out their faith consistently.

 

Depression and low self-esteem are epidemic, and they often come from not living up to what we know is right and what we believe. We start living a lie. Yet when we know God loves us unconditionally, we no longer need to prop up our self-esteem by living up to a false image of ourselves. As His totally loved children, we can simply be who we are—before Him and others—in all sincerity. We can respond to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and conviction without worrying about our reputation, even if it means confessing some offense we got away with years ago. If our highest priority is to be used by Him, we will be eager to let go of anything that gets in the way. We are free to be ourselves and please Him through honest, sincere, loving obedience. 

 

A friend once said, “You put into practice what you believe every day. All the rest is just religious talk.” The greatest mistake we can make in trying to reach the campus is thinking we can love students with a clogged “love channel.” But when we pursue a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith, love flows. We become open channels pouring out God’s unconditional love on young people, and the possibilities of having a significant influence on campus open up before us.

 

Your Next Steps

We encourage you to keep a notebook or journal of ideas, action steps, and resources that will help you advance your youth ministry. You can use the following questions and suggestions for brainstorming and developing your goals and plans. 

 

• Jesus said believers would be known by our love for one another. Take an honest self-assessment: Is there anything about you that causes people around you not to know you that way? 

 

• Meditate on 1 Timothy 1:5 and ask the Lord to speak to you about your capacity to love as you answer these questions:

1.     What motives, besides a selfless love for students, cause me to want to minister on the campus?

2.     What are God’s pure motives for me to go on the campus?

3.     In what area(s) do I need to unclog sin so that God’s love for students will flow through me?

o   pure heart

o   good conscience

o   sincere faith

 

• As you look through Colossians 3:3-9 to see what the Lord wants you to “put off” and Colossians 3:10-17 for what he wants you to “put on,” ask the Holy Spirit to show you what changes you need to make to move forward with Jesus as Lord.. 

 

Resources

• The Power to Bless by Alan Wright

 

• Gentle and Lowly-The Heart of Jesus for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortland