Bad news everywhere
Broken hearts in need of prayer
But theres hope in His grace
And together we can give it away
Love Your Neighbor – Jamie Kimmett
Jamie Kimmett is from Scotland and cut his musical teeth on artists like Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and John Mayer. He was called to a life of ministry, but after beginning his seminary studies, he took a turn and chose to minister through music.
Kimmett headed to Nashville and signed a record contract. Thus far, hes had moderate success, with Love Your Neighbor his fourth single released from his debut album Prize Worth Fighting For. Hes also the songwriter behind multiple songs that frequent listeners to KLove would recognize.
The song has pretty standard lyrics, calling the church to live the example of loving your neighbor as yourself. Its not just a Christian virtue; its a mandate directly from Jesus, one of the rare sentiments from Christ that finds its way to all four canonical gospels. The most oft-cited instance comes from Matthew 22, when the Pharisees attempted to entrap Jesus by asking him which of the commandments in the law is the greatest.
For those who are not familiar, the Jewish faith lives by commandments, known as Mitzvot. There are more than 600 such laws in Judaism, most of which were established during the time of Moses.
Trying to get Jesus to sort through all of these laws and pick just one would allow the Pharisees to call him out for lessening the value of every other law on the books.
Instead, Jesus goes another direction, beginning in Matthew 22:37:
Love the Lord your God with all. your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV)
Many attempt to equate loving your neighbor and loving one another statements in the Bible made by Jesus and then in the rest of the New Testament, but they are two different phrases when used by Jesus in the scriptures. The issue is that what we translate to love means very different things in the Bible, and often the intention behind what sort of love is being referenced adds to the context of what is being said.
The Greek language really offers four main types of love, and each is translated to love in English translations of the Bible. Eros love is passionate, romantic love with a partner. Storge love is familial love, the love between a mother and child or among siblings. Those two Greek words are cited in the New Testament, but quite infrequently. (Other words can be translated to mean love, but they typically have a better word that they translate to in English.)
The two words used most often that are translated to love are philia love and agape love.
Philia love (where we get the name of Philadelphia, known as the city of brotherly love) refers to the love of a group that you are associated with, whether friends or members of a similar social group. This is primary word used when Jesus tells listeners to love one another, and its typically in reference to supporting fellow believers.
We exercise plenty of philia love, even in our worst moments of showing disrespect and hate to others, because its easy to love those who look, sound, and think like we do.
Thats why Jesus strategically uses philia love in his conversations. You see the word used frequently in the New Testament, but it is more often used by the apostles who are encouraging the Christian church to quit fighting among themselves, imploring the church that in order to be an example of Christs love to the world, they need to find a way to at least show philia love to one another.
Christs love, the love that Jesus frequently encourages His followers to employ, is the fourth kind of love in the Greek language, agape love. The word has been frequently co-opted by modern culture, such that the impact and the power of the word has lost some of its power.
Agape love indicates a love that is for all people, not just those who are part of your family, your in-group, or a romantic partner. Agape love is often simplistically translated as general love.
That really misses the depth of what agape love indicates in the modern era and certainly what it meant in the context of Jesus use.
Agape love indicates a love that was willing to sacrifice for a stranger. Its considered selfless love, without conditions. When Jesus indicated to love your neighbor, he spoke of agape love, indicating that he meant to show sacrificial love to not just those who look, think, and act like you, but also to the exact opposite – the people who think, look, and act completely different.
Last weekend, two people lost their lives, and multiple more were injured in a targeted attack. This wasnt done at an abortion clinic or inside a mall or at a government building. It was done at the personal homes of the victims.
The disgusting part was not just the act itself, but it was the way that both sides attempted to use this act of violence as a point of argument against the other side. Rather than coming together in a time of tragedy, the shooting led to further divide and finger-pointing.
One of the proudest recent moments in the Huron community was watching how the governmental bodies, businesses, and community members rallied around one another during COVID-19. The state of South Dakota and even the nation was very new to the virus when it tragically struck down multiple members of the Huron community, leading to swift action by the Huron City and Beadle County Commissions to put into place safety protocols.
Care for the wellbeing of business owners in the community led to an increase in food and restaurant-based taxes collected by the city in April 2020 over April 2019, in large part because the community banded together to ensure that, even if it had to be carry-out, local restaurants were going to be able to remain viable during the safety protocols that were put into place.
The community rallied to protect the health of one another by following area lawmakers swift actions, and a potential breakout was stymied in the county while the rest of the state experienced a quickly increasing presence of the virus in the state. Before the Huron area recorded its next confirmed positive case, every county in the state had recorded at least one positive test.
That care for one another shone through in that moment. That was agape love – making a sacrifice for your neighbor, who you may strongly disagree with in matters of politics or religion, because you want the community to survive and thrive.
As so many factors push to divide us, lets remember those words and spread that agape love throughout Huron and the Heartland Region!
Leave a Reply