Do You Love What Jesus Loves?

I once met a man who loved to part his hair in the middle; he thought it made him look more godly. He turned out to be a very evil man, but with his hair parted in the middle.
I once met a man who loved vodka. He had no friends, but he had a very interesting nose.
I once met a man who loved to not smile. He thought it made him look more Christ-like. I thought it just made him look sad, very sad.
I once met a man who loved to work. His wife didn't seem to like him very much.
I once met a man who loved to talk about early church doctrine. He talked about it a lot, but he was very unproductive at work.
I once met a lady who loved to tell others she would not drink coffee. Ironically, she did not sleep very well.
I once met a man who loved to eat delicious food, drink delicious drinks, and laugh more than anyone. He was very poor.
I once met a man who loved to catch minnows. He was very skinny.
I once met a man who loves people. He changed my life.
His name is Jesus.
My question is, do I love what Jesus loves?
We love the things that set us apart, the doctrines that divide us, the cultural differences that make us feel unique. I fear that if I met the woman at the well in John chapter 4, my tendency would be to talk about her, not to her.
That is why I need Jesus. That is why I love Jesus—because he first loved me.
We tend to love the things that are beautiful, the things that are not broken, the things that have not been crushed by this life. In short, we tend to love “whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27).
If we had the opportunity to hang out with either Caiaphas or Zacchaeus, most of us would pick Caiaphas every time. We would go to this apparently righteous man's beautiful house, sit on the veranda, and talk about the doctrines of the Old Testament. We would parse the peculiarities of Proverbs and sing the soul soothing melodies of Psalms.
We would shun the small, strange man named Zacchaeus who tends to rip people off.
We would see the outside; Jesus would see the heart. We need eyes like Jesus. We need a heart like Jesus!

We put those who don't have scars on a pedestal—those rare few who have escaped the ugly in this world and are not bent, crooked, or broken . . . at least not on the outside.
Failing that, we tend to love the ones that Jesus has already healed, the ones we can look to and say, “There, you are all better now, you are clean like us. You can hang out with us in our club where we decorate ‘the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous’ (Matthew 23:29).”
We need the desire of Jesus, who, in the presence of Judas his betrayer, said, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15). Judas, who was counted among Christ’s closest friends, but who, for the cold comfort of a handful of silver, turned him over to the men who would kill him.
Later someone would ask, “What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends” (Zechariah 13:6). Yet, before the deed was done, he would cry to heaven, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
He forgave you. He forgave me!
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” (1 John 4:11)
Last night I reminisced with an old friend of the good days gone past. But I remember before the good days. I remember going to my old friend’s camp with my father when I was 10 years old. I remember the smell of old cigarettes and the pungent stink of marijuana hanging in the air. I remember when the young men had long hair and used bad language.
I remember when my dad told them that Jesus loved them, and they believed it and rejoiced.
I remember our grumpy neighbor came to my dad's shop to tell him he was “wasting his time with those hippies!” That he was "casting his pearls before swine" and that "those potheads would never be clean."
But Jesus loved them, and Jesus loved the grumpy neighbor. Jesus loved my dad who told the story, and this little boy that he took with him.
Jesus does not love the houses, the buses, the tents, or the dogs. They're all going to burn. Jesus loves the people! He doesn't want the people to burn with the houses. That's why Jesus gave his life: because he loved those who did not love him back.
Do you love who Jesus loves? It's not a religious question; it is a practical one. Take a moment and answer it in your heart.
Do you love who Jesus loves? If you do, it changes the way you treat them.
Jesus loves your spouse; so should you. So have “compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:8–9).
Jesus loves your annoying fellow church members who talk too slow and have the same problems every week. So, “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:2–3).
But if you still find them frustrating, Jesus has an answer for that too. “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another” (Romans 12:9–10).
Sometimes love is hard. Sometimes it requires us to stand for righteousness when everyone else is taking the easy road, not because we are the pinnacle of goodness, but because we love others, we must point to the truth. A sin filled life is going to cause you, your kids, and your church unimaginable pain.
I will not accept that as normal.
We need to love how Jesus loves.
We need to love people not for who they are but for who they could be in Christ. Jesus looked at an unaccomplished kid threshing wheat in a swimming pool and called him a man of valor. Gideon was not yet a man of valor, but Jesus saw in him the man who could be.
We need to love people, not for what they are doing but for what they can do. Samson was a hot mess. He made so many mistakes, and yet God loved him, not for what he was doing, but for what he would do. He would protect the people that God loved.
We need to love people for who they will be in Christ. Jesus loved Peter, knowing the betrayal was coming, knowing that his friend would turn his back on him when he needed him the most. When Jesus looked at Peter, it wasn't the broken, fearful man hiding in the garden outside the high priest’s mansion that he saw. It was the man of God who would stand in the church and bring clarity to the people of God.
Jesus sat and ate supper with Judas, knowing his heart was wholly evil. Jesus did not rail and insist on pointing out Judas' fault, but received his affection and offered his own compassion in return, calling him “friend” even as Judas betrayed him with a kiss.
We need to remember the truth that God so loved the world. Not just the good parts or even the good people, but everyone, everywhere, all the time.
If we love Jesus, then we want to be like Jesus. If we want to be like Jesus, we need to love like Jesus.
Jesus' disciples gathered for his last address.
After being raised from the dead, there was no more weakness, and Jesus held the reins of all the power in the universe. He was intent on handing that power to those who loved him best and explaining to them what he wanted them to do with it.
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:18–20)
He left heaven and took on the form of a servant because he loved the world—the people. The heart of Jesus hasn't changed.
Has yours?
“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” (1 John 3:23)