"Authentic Christianity"
I John 3:11-19
(Key verse) 1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
Introduction: One of the phrases that has been coined and is being used quite often in the church world today is the notion of "Authentic Christianity." As usual there are all kinds of definitions of this term and it depends quite often on your particular view of what the church should be like. For instance, we have a church about a mile from our campus that regularly advertises the idea that they have "Authentic Christianity." The problem with that statement is that in claiming to be "authentic" you imply that there are those who are not authentic. This is subjective and requires a certain amount of judgmentalism, although you would probably get an argument about that. Obviously the only reliable way of knowing what it is would be to find out what God has to say about this subject and that would remove the subjective and replace with the objective. So this morning we will look at what the Scriptures have to say about what constitutes "Authentic Christianity."
I. The Proof of Authentic Christianity v. 14-15
a. It is an affirmed truth v.11
It was an affirmed truth because first and foremost it is what Jesus taught. They knew it because they had heard Jesus teach it!
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
b. It is an assuring truth v.14a
This love is the "proof" that they had been regenerated, that they had "...passed from death unto life..."
WITH OUR ARMS ABOUT THEIR KNEES
"Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that.... The saving of souls, if a man has once gained love to perishing sinners and his blessed Master, wil be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him away, that he will almost forget himself in the saving of others...If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for."
SOURCE: Charles Spurgeon
c. It is an absolute truth v. 14b-15
"One of the things I like about God's Word is that it has no expiration date!" Patsy Clairmont What was true yesterday will be true tomorrow and forever! If we love our brother then it is evident that we have received the life of Christ and if we do not love our brother then we "...abideth in death..."
II. The Pattern of Authentic Christianity v. 16
a. The enlightenment of love v.16a
An accurate translation of the first portion of verse 16 would read like this; "We arrive at the knowledge of love"; we apprehend what true love is in Christ, by looking at His life and emulating it.
b. The example of love v.16b
16...because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
NO GREATER LOVE
It was February 1941, Auschwitz, Poland. Maximilian Kolbe was a Franciscan priest put in the infamous death camp for helping Jews escape Nazi terrorism. Months went by and in desperation an escape took place. The camp rule was enforced. Ten people would be rounded up randomly and herded into a cell where they would die of starvation and exposure as a lesson against future escape attempts.
Names were called. A Polish Jew Frandishek Gasovnachek was called. He cried, "Wait, I have a wife and children!" Kolbe stepped forward and said, "I will take his place." Kolbe was marched into the cell with nine others where he managed to live until August 14.
This story was chronicled on an NBC news special several years ago. Gasovnachek, by this time 82, was shown telling this story while tears streamed down his cheeks. A mobile camera followed him around his little white house to a marble monument carefully tended with flowers. The inscription read:
IN MEMORY OF MAXIMILIAN KOLBE:
HE DIED IN MY PLACE.
Every day Gasovnachek lived since 1941, he lived with the knowledge, "I live because someone died for me." Every year on August 14 he travels to Auschwitz in memory of Kolbe.
"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13).
Source: Victor Knowles, Peace on Earth Ministries. Adapted from Crossroads Family Circle.
c. The encouragement of love v. 16c
The greatest obligation that we have as believers is to "...lay down our lives..." for one another. The Lord laid down his life to redeem us and when we follow his example the act of laying down our lives is redemptive.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
III. The Passion of Authentic Christianity v.17-18
Someone has written that real ministry is meeting needs in love!" John makes the point here that love is not an abstract thing. It moves us to act!
a. The antithesis of love v. 17a
The opposite of laying down our lives is found in the phrase, "...shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him..." He that "...seeth..." is not just a casual observer but is someone who looks at the needs of a brother, gives consideration to those needs, but then shuts up his heart (...bowels of compassion...")
ILL - A man is being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard! Suddenly, the light turns yellow just in front of him. He does the honest thing and stops at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman hits the roof, and the horn, screaming in frustration as she misses her chance to get through the intersection with him. As she is still in mid-rant, she hears a tap on her window and looks up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer orders her to exit her car with her hands up. He takes her to the police station where she is searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approaches the cell and opens the door. She is escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer is waiting with her personal effects. He says, I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping the guy off in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the Choose Life license plate holder, the What Would Jesus Do bumper sticker, the Follow Me to Sunday School bumper sticker, and the chrome plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car.
b. The action of love v. 18
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
The church is most like Jesus when we are laying down ourselves, our talents, our time and our treasure for one another. This is the example of the church in Acts.
Acts 2:45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
Acts 4:35 And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
"If there is a need there should be a deed!"
ILL - Eleven years ago, Walter Levine was diagnosed with multiple myeloma -- a type of bone cancer. Today he dedicates his life to helping others beat the disease. He says, "Ninety-nine percent of everything you do in life is attitude. If you have a relationship with God and you have the right attitude, you're going to learn to ask the one question in life that covers everything: How can I help you?"
("The Up Side" in Guideposts, December 2001, p. 14)
What is to prevent our actions from becoming just shallow sentimentality? We are to love in deed and in truth! Real love is not divorced from truth.
ILL - Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Life says, "Life is all about love!" "Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love. It is in loving that we are most like him, so love is the foundation of every command he has given us; 'the whole Law can be summed up in this one command; 'Love others as you love yourself" (123)
c. The accountability of love v. 19
The last two words of our next speak to our responsibility to love one another in deed and in truth and our accountability to God. We will ultimately stand "...before Him..."
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Conclusion: In the final analysis it does not matter if a church is a big or a small church, a traditional or a contemporary church, a rural or urban church, an affluent or a poor church, American or Korean or Cuban or whatever ethnic label you want to place on it, black or white or multicultural, what matters is it a loving church or an unloving church? That is the real issue. The answer to this question tells us everything we need to know about that church. The answer determines whether or not it is an authentically Christian church or not. No amount of advertising or promotion can make a church a loving church. It either is or it isn't! Since churches are made up of people them we can take this logic to it ultimate conclusion and simply say that if you and I aren't loving others then we will not have a loving church and it will not be an authentically Christian church. My friend, do you love you brother? If you do not then your profession is worthless. Listen to what Jesus says to the professors who are not possessors.
Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
ILL - There is a legend which recounts the return of Jesus to glory after His time on earth. Even in heaven He bore the marks of His earthly pilgrimage with its cruel cross and shameful death. The angel Gabriel approached Him and said, "Master, you must have suffered terribly for men down there." "I did," He said. "And," continued Gabriel, "do they know all about how you loved them and what you did for them?" "Oh, no," said Jesus, "not yet. Right now only a handful of people in Palestine know." Gabriel was perplexed. "Then what have you done," he asked, "to let everyone know about your love for them?" Jesus said, "I've asked Peter, James, John, and a few more friends to tell other people about me. Those who are told will in turn tell other people about me, and my story will be spread to the farthest reaches of the globe. Ultimately, all of mankind will have heard about my life and what I have done." Gabriel frowned and looked rather skeptical. He knew well what poor stuff men were made of. "Yes," he said, "but what if Peter and James and John grow weary? What if the people who come after them forget? What if ways down through the century's people just don't tell others about you? Haven't you made any other plans?" And Jesus answered, "I haven't made any other plans. I'm counting on them." Twenty-one centuries later He still has no other plan. He's counting on you and I to continue His work of reconciling the world to Himself, to continue the work so many have faithfully carried out before us. Will we do so well?
