What The Church Needs: John

What The Church Needs: John

     There are many examples in Scripture of godly men fulfilling their call and glorifying God. They serve as models; albeit, they are imperfect ones. However, they can teach us many truths both by their positive and even their negative actions. We look to these men only in an effort to project their emulative characteristics back onto us, realizing all the time that they are mere men, and sinful men at that (except, of course, Christ Jesus). We can learn; we must learn from those who have gone before. We look at these men and examples of the past in order to reform the present. Ultimately, however, we must look to Christ. We know looking back throughout the Bible that Christ was active within his people. As we look back on them, we are actually focused on Christ and his work then to better our now. So, what do we need?

John (1 John 4:1-12)

     We need a John-like adoration for Christ, the deep theology that accompanies it, a loving spirit, and fervor to assure and warn. The apostle John was a loving and uncompromising man. He loved the sheep, and he fed them. His epistles contain a steady diet of doctrine and practice. John would shout into the heavens as he described Christ, his work, and his love, but then he would navigate the ravines of sin and false teachers. He was balanced. With the stroke of his pen, he could teach the deepest theology and also apply it with the greatest care and ease.

     John knew God, and he knew man. It was this knowledge that led him to write warnings to his fold. He loved the sheep, so he alerted them to antichrists. The apostle exhorted believers to not believe every spirit, to test them, to watch for false prophets, to examine themselves, to be discerning. This was in the context of love. John loved these believers; he protected them from dangers that they may not or could not see. That is love. It may not be popular; it may be “judgmental,” but with the proper motives and the right spirit, it is loving and very necessary.

      John adored Christ. As a result, he loved Christ's church. Because of this love, John wrote about God's love and urged the people of God to love each other. Even this was saturated in deep theology with practical implications. God demonstrated his love by sending his Son to atone for sin and appease his wrath. This love was then being perfected in John's audience (and of course, in us). John taught these believers about God and applied the truth to their lives. He assured them of God's love and salvation and warned them of idols and counterfeits. Why? Because he was sent? Yes, but it goes beyond that. Because it was his job? Partly, but not quite. Because he loved them? Yes, John loved Christ and Christ's body. He loved the church. He loved the individuals that made up the church. John loved people. And this love, this passionate desire within him, this drove him to preach and teach God's truth.

      John loved God, he loved Christ, he loved the sheep, and he loved God's truth enough to proclaim it. That is what is needed today—theology saturated in the love of God applied to the object of God's love-his bride. Where are the preachers and teachers and leaders that will lovingly proclaim God's truth? Where are they? Who will warn the sheep? Who will assure them and bandage their wounds? Who will lovingly guide them over the rocks to fresh pasture? Where are the leaders that are willing to love the sheep enough to give them fresh water in Christ's abundant stream?

     Where are the preachers who actually have a passion for the word of God, theology, and people? Not merely theology, not just preaching, but a genuine love and burning concern for people. Theology minus love is simply knowledge. Demons possess this. Satan is a theologian, but he is destitute of love. Preaching minus love is dead rhetoric, but proclamation overcome with the love of Christ is alive and blazing. It burns; it scorches everything in its path. It is theology on fire. Oh, it's hot, it is recognizable and unquestionably epic. Entire cities may be engulfed in minutes. Whole continents set ablaze for the glory of God—how wonderful! What a thought.

     And what is left in the charred remains? What’s left is a new life in Christ. This life desires growth. People who are alive in Christ love him and want more of him. They love his word, his people, his work, his body, his creation, his mission, his teaching, his home, his Father. Their hearts are on fire for him. Not for what he can offer, what he has promised, or for what is to come. They simply love him. There is a white-hot passion for God and his glory in Christ.

     Pastors, look at John. Yes, he was sinful. Yes, he was just a man, but he was a redeemed man. The love of God transformed him and enabled him to proclaim that love to unloving and unlovable people. He loved God and doctrine. He also loved people enough to teach God's truth unadulterated. This included the difficult subjects. This meant that he might offend someone, but he loved God, his word, and his people, so he did not compromise. He loved God and pleasing him more than he feared man and what they may do. We need more men and leaders with this gumption.