<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s Note: First published on Public Theology with Zach W. Lambert<\/em> on October 24, 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n Years ago, I was sitting in the main session of a church leadership conference when I heard a pastor say something that really caught my attention.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLove for God<\/strong>\u00a0is best illustrated, demonstrated, and authenticated by\u00a0love for others,<\/strong> who are nothing like you and who may not even like you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Andy Stanley<\/span><\/p>\n To be totally honest, I bristled when I heard it.\u00a0\u201cNo, no, no. Love for God is best illustrated, demonstrated, and authenticated by how I obey God\u2019s commands,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0I thought to myself. Now to be fair, I was a seminary student at the time. I\u2019d taken like eight classes which meant I was an expert on all things Christianity. It also meant that Jesus had given me the sacred task of correcting everyone else all the time.<\/span><\/p>\n But as I was thinking about how and when I would need to go correct the speaker, I heard him say something else. He started talking about the night of the Last Supper when Jesus told his followers:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.\u00a0If you keep my commands<\/strong>, you will remain in my love, just as I have\u00a0kept my Father\u2019s commands<\/strong> and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John 15:9-11<\/span><\/p>\n As soon as Andy read that verse, I felt vindicated.\u00a0\u201cI knew I was right! Loving God is about following his commands.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n But then Andy posed a question to the crowd: \u201cWhat are Jesus\u2019 commands? Let\u2019s keep reading in verse 12.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t exactly remember verse 12 from my eight seminary classes, but I was pretty sure it was going to enumerate a very long list of all God\u2019s dos and don\u2019ts. You can imagine how shocked I was when Andy read it:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy command is this: Love each other<\/strong> as I have loved you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John 15:12<\/span><\/p>\n In that moment, something began to shift in me. The facade of legalism to which I had ascribed in seminary (and at the church where I worked) began to crack.<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus, with just hours before his imminent execution, chooses to center his final conversation, the crescendo of all his teaching, one on command: love others as I have loved you.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Who?<\/span><\/p>\n Everyone.\u00b9<\/span><\/p>\n Here is our task: learn to love everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n No matter their politics. No matter their beliefs. No matter anything about them.<\/span><\/p>\n But how?<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve been loved by God and welcomed into his family, so how do we love others and welcome them into our family?<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve been loved by God and invited to abide with him, so how do we love others and invite them to abide with God?<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve been loved by God and he fights for justice on our behalf, so how do we love others and fight for justice on their behalf?<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve been loved by God and shown immeasurable generosity, so how do we love others and look for ways to be immeasurably generous?<\/span><\/p>\n No matter who we are or where we\u2019ve been, we are loved by God and fully included in his church. How do we love others, no matter who they are or where they\u2019ve been, and fully include them in our church?<\/span><\/p>\n It can be hard to figure out exactly how to do this. It may be simple, but it\u2019s challenging. It looks different for each of us and will vary in every situation, but we have the example of biblical stories and characters to help us understand how to make it practical.<\/span><\/p>\n In his commentary on John 15, scholar Gerard Sloyan puts it like this:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn emulating him one loves not only those deserving of love but all in the company, lovable or not. Such was the Master\u2019s way with the disciples. It is God\u2019s way with the human family.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Gerard Sloyan<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s something that goes along with receiving and giving this love that we don\u2019t spend much time talking about. And yet, Jesus talks about it quite a bit in this final time of teaching. He is very clear with his disciples\u2014 both then and now\u2014 about what will happen if we actually put this radically inclusive, sacrificial love for all people thing into practice.<\/span><\/p>\n If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: \u201cA servant is not greater than his master.\u201d If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John 15:18-20<\/span><\/p>\n I bet I\u2019ve heard this passage preached in a dozen sermons, and every time it\u2019s been interpreted in a way that pits Christians against everyone else. This is neither healthy nor what Jesus is actually talking about here.<\/span><\/p>\n If we go back to the actual words of Jesus here, we see that he\u2019s not talking about non-Christians attacking us because we are Christians. He says,\u00a0\u201cIf the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Why did the world hate Jesus? Not because he was a Christian. That wasn\u2019t a thing. Yet. People hated him because of his radical, sacrificial, and all-inclusive love. Think about where this section is situated inside of this larger teaching time.<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus says,\u00a0\u201cIf you love me, keep my command. My command is this: love others as I have loved you. And if you do that, if you radically and sacrificially love everyone the way I did, some people are going to hate you for it.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This is not about the label we carry; it\u2019s about the way we live and love like Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\n When was the last time you heard about a Christian in the West being hated because they loved too much? Because they included the wrong people? Because they stood up for their marginalized neighbors?<\/span><\/p>\n I know some of you are thinking, \u201cThat never happens,\u201d but as someone who has experienced it over and over again, I\u2019m telling you it absolutely does. It just usually doesn\u2019t come from people\u00a0outside<\/em>\u00a0the religious community.<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus actually says this is to be expected as he continues his teaching:<\/span><\/p>\n All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will\u00a0put you out of the synagogue<\/strong>; in fact, the time is coming when\u00a0anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God<\/strong>. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. <\/span><\/p>\n John 16:1-4<\/span><\/p>\n The phrase, \u201cout of the synagogue\u201d used by Jesus in this passage is only one word in the original Greek language. In modern vocabulary, it\u2019s a word that is best translated as \u201cexcommunicated.\u201d Jesus is using it here specifically to refer back to something that happened earlier in his ministry\u2014a time when he heals a blind man on the Sabbath. Here is how the religious leaders reacted when they found out:<\/span><\/p>\n Some of the Pharisees said, \u201cThis man is<\/strong>\u00a0not from God<\/strong>, for he does not keep the Sabbath.\u201d But others asked, \u201cHow can a sinner perform such signs?\u201d So they were divided.<\/span><\/p>\n John 9:16<\/span><\/p>\n The religious leaders are divided. Some believe Jesus is who he says he is and some do not. So they decide to investigate further by asking the formerly blind man\u2019s parents about the incident.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe know he is our son,\u201d the parents answered, \u201cand we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don\u2019t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.\u201d His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put\u00a0out of the synagogue<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n John 9:20-22<\/span><\/p>\n This was something Jesus did a few different times: break a religious law in order to help someone in need. One time he actually did it in the middle of teaching in a synagogue, which, as you can imagine, did not go over very well.<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve read the accounts of Jesus\u2019 life, you know he was\u00a0constantly<\/em>\u00a0in trouble with some of the religious leaders\u2014 not all of them, maybe not even most of them\u2014 but Jesus experienced severe persecution at the hands of religious people. and he warns his followers that the same thing will happen to them if they live like he lived and love like he loved.<\/span><\/p>\n I have a pastor friend who says it like this:\u00a0\u201cWhen you act like Jesus, unbelievers will rarely give you trouble, but those in the church will turn against you.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I love how Tim Keller puts it in his book\u00a0Prodigal God<\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus\u2019s teaching consistently\u00a0attracted the irreligious<\/strong>\u00a0while\u00a0offending the Bible-believing religious<\/strong> people of His day. Our churches do not have this same effect, which can only mean one thing: we are not declaring the same message that Jesus did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Tim Keller\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It pales in comparison to what happens in other countries, but I can list twenty Christian friends off the top of my head who\u2019ve experienced legitimate persecution for loving like Jesus and helping others do the same. I personally have experienced violent threats, financial loss, defamation, excommunication, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n But here\u2019s the thing: None of this \u201cpersecution\u201d came from the government, from adherents to other religions, or even from non-religious people. Not one single time. Every time I\u2019ve experienced mistreatment for the way I follow Jesus has been at the hands of fellow Christians and churches.<\/span><\/p>\n Now listen: I\u2019m not some martyr, and I\u2019m certainly not Jesus. I\u2019m really not telling you all of this because I want your sympathy or admiration. I\u2019m telling you because I want you to know that pursuing the way of Jesus in every part of your life is going to come with pushback, and sometimes that pushback is going to come from people doing it in the name of God.<\/span><\/p>\n Within this passage, Jesus is saying that people led by love will often be hated and even persecuted by people who are not led by love. And tragically, many of the people who are not led by love are in very powerful positions, both inside and outside of religious communities.<\/span><\/p>\n Remember how Jesus told the disciples they were his friends? When we becomes friends with Jesus, the same people who hated him are going to hate us. And guess who that is? Let me tell you who it\u2019s not:<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not the tax collectors and prostitutes. They LOVED him.<\/span> Who hated Jesus? Tyrannical religious leaders and oppressive political rulers. And what did those folks have in common? They were not led by love. They were led by the desire to dominate. They were led by a ruthless pursuit of power and riches. These are the people who plotted against Jesus, had him illegally arrested, unjustly tried, and executed.<\/span><\/p>\n So what do we do? Do we stop following Jesus? No. Do we gear up for a fight with anyone who mistreats us? No.<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s the part we really can\u2019t afford to miss. Do you remember how Jesus treated these folks who were not led by love? Do you remember how he reacted in the midst of unimaginable persecution?<\/span><\/p>\n He loved them.<\/span><\/p>\n To see just how radical the love of Jesus really is, look no further than the cross. Just hours after this time of teaching in John 15, Jesus is enduring his own execution. He has been beaten, humiliated, and crucified by a group of Roman guards. As he hangs on the cross, watching them divide up his clothes, he says:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFather,\u00a0forgive<\/strong>\u00a0them<\/strong>, for they do not know what they are doing.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Luke 23:34<\/span><\/p>\n This is one of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture. Even in the face of so much hate\u2014 even in the midst of unimaginable persecution, Jesus chooses love. And this wasn\u2019t a one time thing for Jesus: he exhibited this behavior throughout his life and ministry. In fact, Jesus never let someone else\u2019s hate keep him from leading with love.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m going to say that again, because I don\u2019t want us to miss it:<\/span><\/p>\n When I think of modern examples of leading with love when faced with hate, I think of Martin Luther King Jr. Many of y\u2019all know how influenced I am by Dr. King. So much so that, in my spare time, I love to read his old sermons from the 50s and 60s.<\/span><\/p>\n In closing, I want to share Dr. King\u2019s reflection on those words of Jesus from a sermon in 1963. Here\u2019s what he says:<\/span><\/p>\n There are probably no words in all the New Testament that express more clearly and solemnly the magnanimity of Jesus\u2019 spirit than that sublime utterance from the cross\u2014\u201cFather forgive them, for they know not what they do.\u201d Here we see love at its best.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n It is impossible to understand the great meaning of Jesus\u2019 prayer without noticing the word with which the text opens. It is the word \u201cthen.\u201d The verse which immediately precedes it reads thus: \u201cAnd when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. THEN, Jesus said, Father, forgive them.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThen\u201d\u2014when he was dying, a most ignominious death. \u201cThen\u201d\u2014when he was being plunged into the abyss of nagging agony. \u201cThen\u201d when man had stooped to his worst. \u201cThen\u201d\u2014when the wicked hands of the creature had dared to crucify the only begotten son of the creator. It was THEN, Jesus said, \u201cFather forgive them.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Behind that \u201cthen\u201d could have been another reaction. Then he could have said, \u201cFather, get even with them.\u201d Then he could have said, \u201cFather let loose the mighty thunderbolts of righteous wrath and destroy them in their tracks.\u201d Then he could have said, \u201cFather open the flood gates of justice and let the staggering avalanche of retribution pour upon them them.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n But this was not his response. Though subjected to inexpressible agony, though suffering excruciating pain, though despised and rejected, nevertheless, He cries, \u201cFather forgive them.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n MLK, Jr.<\/span><\/p>\n That, my friends, is what it means to lead with love, even when we are experiencing hate. This is who Jesus is and who he calls us to be, too.<\/span><\/p>\n How do we do this? How do we lead with love even when we encounter hate? By depending on Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Scripture says that the Holy Spirit that indwells every follower of Jesus is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, and it\u2019s the same Spirit that empowered Jesus to meet hate with love. That very Spirit lives within us.<\/span><\/p>\n So may we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, be dispensers of divine love in the midst of this broken world. And, like Jesus, may we never let someone else\u2019s hate keep us from leading with love.<\/span><\/p>\n (1) I am not saying that you need to \u201clove\u201d (\/stay in close relationship with) someone who is actively hurting or abusing you. Loving people has nothing to do with giving them access to hurt you. Jesus did not condone this type of hurt toward others, and neither do we. If you suspect you are being abused or perpetually hurt by someone, you have every right to hold necessary boundaries for your own health and protection.<\/span><\/p>\n Public Theology is based on the work of Zach W. Lambert, Pastor of Restore, an inclusive church in Austin, Texas. He and his wife, Amy Lambert, contribute to and moderate this account. Zach\u2019s first book,\u00a0Better Ways to Read the Bible, is now available wherever books are sold.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n All of the content available at Public Theology is for those who identify as Christian, as well as those who might be interested in learning about a more inclusive, kind, thoughtful Christianity. To receive new posts and support the work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n We are happy to cover subscription costs for anyone who needs it but can\u2019t afford it at this time. If you would like to join the Public Theology community and gain access to our paid subscriber content (which we keep behind a paywall for the privacy and connection of our community) but cannot afford to do so, please message\u00a0Amy Lambert\u00a0directly.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re glad you\u2019re here.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Editor\u2019s Note: First published on Public Theology with Zach W. Lambert on October 24, 2025. Years ago, I was sitting in the main session of a church leadership conference when I heard a pastor say something that really caught my attention. \u201cLove for God\u00a0is best illustrated, demonstrated, and authenticated by\u00a0love for others, who are nothing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[2169,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-11466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-christian-living","8":"tag-absolutely","9":"tag-love"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}This is the call of every Christian, everywhere, and for all time: Love everyone we encounter the way Jesus has loved us.<\/span><\/h3>\n
Simply put: everything boils down to receiving God\u2019s love and then giving it away to absolutely everyone. This is what it means to follow Jesus. This is what it means to be a Christian. And as Christians, no matter how hard it seems, we are able to extend this love to those around us through the power of the Holy Spirit.<\/span><\/h3>\n
It\u2019s not the question-askers and the doubters. They FLOCKED to him.<\/span>
It\u2019s not the oppressed, the broken, the abused, the outcast, the immigrant, the poor, the sick, and the downtrodden. They FOLLOWED him everywhere he went.<\/span><\/p>\nJesus never let someone else\u2019s hate keep him from leading with love.<\/span><\/h3>\n