Description
The counter-culture lifestyle of the 1960's was based on the radical concept that love is all we need. The Beatles sang about it, hippies got high and danced in the name of it. Interestingly enough, this was also the central teaching of a long haired, homeless leader of another counter-culture movement nearly 2000 years earlier. Not only was it radical, it also was central to his lifestyle, his teaching about the Kingdom of God, and his mission as the Messiah.
Mathew 5:43
You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
John 13:13
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Talk about radical. He doesn't say we should love just those people who are like us, or those people we get along with, or people who are nice to us. He says to love everyone, even our enemies. And not just love them a little, but to love them as He loved us. Jesus paid the utlimate price for our brokenness, and now he's telling us to love our enemies that much.
As followers of Christ, we know what it is like to be radically loved, and should want to love others like that too. We need to focus on communicating love to people, especially the very people our society so often condemns and rejects. That is exactly what Jesus did. Jesus was known for hanging out and loving on "sinners" and oftens times was judged by those considered "religious" because of it. But that didn't stop him, and it shouldn't stop us.
My 6-year old daughter helped design this shirt. We sat at the computer one afternoon just listing out all the people we need to communicate love to: Muslim, Hindu, gay, straight, black, white, rich or poor, even our insurance agent. It's so easy to be uncaring and indifferent and put forth the effort to hate. When we realize God's unlimitted love for the us, it is our requirement to share God's unlimited love to world. It's time to start saying NO to HATE and YES to LOVE.
