One Body in Union with Christ

Image by sludgegulper via Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world.  If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts.  This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.

Romans 12: 3 - 5

What does it mean to be 'members one of another'?  We are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought because we need each other.

This passage is about mutuality.  Unfortunately this concept has fallen out of modern political discourse.  Arguments are usually around altruism and selfishness.  'Scratch an altruist and find an hypocrite'. 

Like everything else, we can absolutise altruism; turn it into an ideology.  No one is purely altruistic but this does not mean all actions are selfish.

'Love your neighbour as you love yourself' is a single commandment, not two.  We're not being told to both love our neighbour and ourselves or that loving ourselves is an essential prerequisite to loving our neighbours (true as these positions might be).

As we learn of God's love, we discover God loves all people and I am one of the people God loves.  God expresses God's love for us through our neighbours and love for our neighbours through us.

Comments

[Chrisoldcorn]

Great post! Plenty of Christians need to read this message.