What's Justice Got to do With it?

What would it look like if we as Christians were truly loving each other, and those not in the church?

Love is patient
 When you are with a friend who is living with FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) she has spent her last paycheck on jewelry and new clothes, now she doesn't have money for groceries, do you have her over for dinner and offer to help plan a budget or do you tell her she shouldn't have been so irresponsible with her money? While trying to help her with her finances she says something hurtful about the way you've spent your money, do you explain why that is hurtful and move on or do you decide that you probably don't want to spend much more time with her?

Love is kind
When your homeless schizophrenic friend shows up at your doorstep fresh off the bus, telling you he'll be in town for the next 3 days do you put fresh sheets on the bed in your guest room and welcome him in or do you tell him that its not a good time for you and wish him luck in finding a place to stay. When he asks if he can invite some (homeless) friends over for dinner for his birthday do you welcome the crowd in with open arms or tell him that you aren't comfortable with his friends? When he's ready to move on to a new city to you get on the phone with your friends to help him find a place to stay or tell him you hope he finds a place?

Love does not envy, it does not boast
When one of your friends (who is far less financially responsible than you) shows you her new ipad are you happy that she has a new gadget or resentful that you spent money paying off a bill and so can't buy one for yourself? Are you a little bit angry that being responsible means waiting for the things that others can get when they first come out? In two months you've saved up to buy a newer, better ipad. Do you call your friend immediately to tell her that yours is better or do you leave it alone, remain happy that now you both have what you want?

Love is not proud
When your team at work comes up with an innovative idea which increases productivity and profit margins, your boss wants to know who's brains were behind the concept do you jump to tell him that you came up with the initial idea or that it was you who expanded on it to develop a use able concept or do you give credit to the whole team and emphasise that each person on the team was vital?

Love is not rude
When your autistic friend hears about your cousin being injured in a car accident, she tries to relate to you by telling of her 'bad day' waking up with a headache that just wouldn't go away. Do you accept her attempt at understanding and realize that in her mind she was showing sympathy or do you snap at her because what you are experiencing is so much worse than what she went through? Do you thank her for reaching out to you or yell at her for minimizing your pain?

Love is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs
One of your friends wants to go see a movie with you because he's been busy with school, you've been working overtime and haven't seen each other in over a month. The problem is that all his money has gone to school, and buying beer for college parties. Do you offer to pay for the movie so you can still spend some time together or do you tell him to give you a call the next time he gets paid? That same friend calls to cancel on you, again, his reason sounds like a made up excuse not to spend time with you. Do you hang up on him after yelling about his lack of loyalty or do you try to reschedule for a more convenient time? Two months later you finally get together for the latest movie. Do you happily enjoy your popcorn, laugh together at the funny scenes in the movie and ask if he wants to grab a burger after the movie or do you constantly bring up the fact that he cancelled on you three different times, that he's lucky you even want to continue doing things with him?

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth
Your uncle, who left your aunt and cousins several years ago, is robbed at a convenience store. He's having difficulty describing the person who did it because they hit him on the head with a blunt object and caused a concussion. Are you hoping he'll remember and the police will be able to recover the stolen items for him? Are you a little happy that he can't remember because he hasn't been the father your cousins deserved, now he's being repaid for his own mistakes? Are you glad when he remembers, not because he may get his things back but because now the mugger will be arrested and won't be able to steal from someone else, someone more innocent and less deserving of evil?

Love always protects
A young relative of yours commits a violent crime against your own family, the courts are deciding between two treatment facilities for him. One would provide him with counseling, and security, the other is known for gang violence where he could end up a victim. Do you petition to have him placed in the safe place or are you hoping to have him moved to the one where he could experience the pain he inflicted upon your family?

Love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres
Your house is broken into while you're away on vacation. Only a select few items have been stolen, the person was in and out in less than a minute. It appears to be someone who knew the house backwards and forwards. Your roommate and some of his friends fall into several hundred dollars at the same time. Do you begin looking for a new roommate because he must have been the culprit? Or do you believe it was a coincidence that brought these two things together at the same time. Do you maintain a friendship even though you have justified suspicions against your roommate and his friends?

Love never fails!!

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a 

I believe the honest answer for all Christians is that we are not living out Christlike love to the extent that we should but it is important that we take every opportunity to examine our own lives so we can strive all the more to work toward a godly love that leaves no one out of the good news of Christ. The message of the gospel is for all and those of us who are already being saved have a responsibility to live it to the best of our ability for those around us.

My next question would be do you have people in your life such as the examples I've used above. If not I would ask why not? I believe that we should be seeking out the sick so we can introduce them to our doctor Jesus Christ. If we spend all our time with those who are already healthy we are missing many opportunities to bring health to the sick, we're also missing out on opportunities to be shown our own failings so we know which areas we still need a doctor.