This Rant series is going to focus on a question that I'm sure, if you're anything like me, you've asked more than once in your life. Ready? Here it is: "What if love ISN'T enough?" And I know this is a hard question. Because, according to Paul's writings in 1 Corinthians 13:8 (NIV), "Love never fails..." And, if you're anything like me, that's an idea to build on. That's a foundational truth. Love never fails. Which, of course, means God never fails. Because God is love, right? So we can depend on Him. We can rely on Him. We can trust Him. Because love never fails. So where does my question come from? How could love not be enough? Well, in order to understand how love never fails, we need to understand love's goal. We need to define success. Look at Isaiah 55:11, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." This assurance from God is the foundation for our foundation. Love never fails because it shall not return void. It shall accomplish that which the Lord pleases. And, really, this Old Testament Scripture came into fulness on the cross. So God's Word (which is Jesus, which is love) already accomplished what it set out to do. Which, according to Luke 12:32, is Daddy giving us the Kingdom. That's His good pleasure. That's what was accomplished when Jesus gave His life for us, and to us. He established the Kingdom. That's love's goal. The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Love. The place where the King rules and reigns. Which, of course, means that we are not only IN the Kingdom, but we ARE the Kingdom. Because the King rules, and reigns, and lives... in us. It's only when we get a carnal idea of what love is supposed to accomplish that we get all turned around and messed up. See, we think love is about getting. But it's not. Love is giving. For God so loved the world He GAVE His only begotten Son. It is Daddy's good pleasure to GIVE us the Kingdom. Sometimes it seems like the Word fails, like love is not enough, because we are expecting it to get us something. That idea of, "I'll scratch your back so that you'll scratch mine." That idea that if we love someone they will love us back. Which is a lovely idea, but not a true one. Sometimes love goes unreturned. Sometimes people question your motives. Or they refuse to believe that what you're doing is unselfish. Sometimes love seems to do the exact opposite of what you want it to do. But, again, that's because we're looking at it wrong. We're loving with conditions, or expectations. And that's not love at all. Love prospers in the thing that HE sent it to do. The thing which pleases HIM. Love isn't about getting anything. It's about giving what you've got. Receiving and releasing. Giving others what they need only and simply because they need it. That's true love, and that's the success OF love!

When we see each other (and ourselves) as we truly are, we recognize two things: 1. There is nothing more important than God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. And 2. We're all just people. We go through the same things. And when we stop putting people on pedestals, or putting people down, we can start to help each other get through the things that we all go through. Galatians 6:2-3 says it like this, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." Knowledge puffs up, right? And pride goes before the fall. So when we think we're something we're not, that's when we get in trouble. I've said this many times: Being humble doesn't mean thinking less of yourself. It simply means thinking of yourself less. Being Christ-centered (which means being people-centered) instead of being self-centered. Bearing one another's burdens and fulfilling the law of Christ. The perfect law of liberty. The law of love. One of the best ways to show someone love is by helping them. NOT by judging them according to appearance. NOT by heaping condemnation on them. NOT by kicking them while they're down. But by giving them a hand to help them up. And here's the coolest part: If I'm taking care of you, and you're taking care of me, neither one of us has to worry about taking care of ourselves! Speaking of being humble, Jesus said, "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Matthew 23:12). If I try to make someone else look small in order to look bigger, all I really look like is a bully. But if I help someone else to look bigger, that's when I what's inside me (love) overflows out of me naturally! And that's when we BOTH rise TOGETHER. In the Old Testament God was speaking to the people of Israel and He promised to come down to where they were and bring them up to where He is. That's what we do to each other when we stop condemning and start helping. When, instead of judging by appearance, we judge righteous judgment. We don't have to try to make people change. We can let people be who they are. And we can love people just as they are. Because they're just people. Trying their best to do what they can, where they're at, with what they've got. Sometimes people stumble around in the dark. It's true. But instead of yelling at them, wouldn't it be better to let the light that we have--the light that we ARE--shine? Wouldn't it be better to SHOW them a more excellent way by SHOWING them the Father (by SHOWING them love!)? People don't respond to condemnation the way we think they ought to. They call us hypocrites, and they run FROM God instead of running TO God. But if we open our arms in a loving embrace--like Jesus did on the cross--and give people a safe place to be, a safe place to learn and grow, then maybe they will run TO Him instead of running FROM Him. Because maybe they'll see Him in us. And then maybe, just maybe, they'll see Him in themselves. And isn't that the point? Not to control what people do, but to show people who they really are! Jesus, God in the flesh, love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. We're just people, that's true. But just people can do just about anything. When we know that we are loved... we can love!

I think people are one of the two most important things on the planet. The other one is God, or love. But I don't want to put people on a pedestal, because high and lofty expectations result in swift and and painful falls. So what I'm saying is, even though there's nothing more important than God and people--loving God and loving people, loving God BY loving people--we're all JUST people. We're all in this together, going through the same stuff. Struggling with the same things. 1 Corinthians 10:13 in the NLT says it like this, "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." And I think we go through those same things for one of two reasons: 1. To learn from them. 2. To help others through them. Because I think God works through people. So if He shows us a way out, it's usually someone who has been there, done that, and got the t-shirt holding out a hand and saying, "This way." There's safety in the multitude of counsel, right? Someone with experience witnessing about what they've seen, and heard. But what's it's NOT is judging people and condemning them. I truly believe the only reason we should ever look down on anybody is to reach down and help them up. Not to kick them while they're down, or step over them with a sneer. Because when you really think about it, you may not have been EXACTLY where they're at... but you probably weren't too far away when you hit your own personal rock bottom. And we all hit rock bottom, from time to time. We're all trying to do the best we can with what we have. But what we have is so much more powerful when we share it! When we bear one another's burdens we can all carry a whole lot more. And when we understand that Jesus did ALL of the heavy lifting over 2,000 years ago on the cross then we can start to share not just the "bad" but the "good." We can stop eating from the tree of death altoghether, and we can let Jesus abide in our house! WE ARE the house! "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). So instead of worrying so much about all of the external stuff--and trying to avoid what is really the human experience--we can live from the inside-out. We can let what (WHO) is inside us fill us to overflowing and come out naturally! We can love each other without condemnation or judgment because we're all part of the same body. Because we're all in this together. We all go through the same stuff, so we might as well help each other get through it. Nobody hates his own body, so we have no excuse for hating each other. We have no excuse for jealousy, and strife, and all of the walls that we put up to separate each other. We can bear it. And when we bear it together, it's much easier to endure. Life is better with loved ones. And we're all just people, so we can ALL be loved ones!

When we start to understand that we're all different parts of the same body, we can stop trying to be something we're not... and we can stop trying to make other people be something THEY'RE not. We can let people be who they are, and we can be who we are. And then, together, as we learn who we REALLY are--Jesus, God in the flesh, love in a body--we can stop acting like anything or anyone else. That's how Ephesians chapter 4 describees the five-fold ministry. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifynig of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:12-13). There's a lot here but I want to hit on "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Because there was a man named Zacchaeus who was little of stature. And most of the time I've heard that preached as Zacchaeus being "a wee little man." But what if that's not what we're talking about? Because Jesus said in another place that you can't add to your height so why worry about it. What if "stature" means maturity? (And by the way, it's number 2244 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means maturity.) So this rich dude who was little of stature, who wanted to see Jesus but wasn't Spiritually mature, climbed up a tree. A sycamore tree. Which is a fig tree. Which represents the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Right? Because when Adam and Eve ate of that tree of death and then wanted to cover themselves, what was on hand but fig leaves? So Zacchaeus uses human effort to try to get high enough to see Jesus. He tries to make himself more mature. He tries to take the Kingdom by violence, if I can say it that way. And what happens? Jesus rebukes him, right? WRONG. Jesus CORRECTS him by showing Him a more excellent way. Jesus says, "...Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house" (Luke 19:5). Jesus says, "Get down from there. Because it's not about what YOU do, it's about what I do. And what I'M going to do is abide in you." See, we are complete IN HIM. Because He is complete IN US. Not because we can make ourselves look taller by making others look smaller. Not because of our knowledge of good and evil. Good and evil are on the same tree! And no matter how often we swing from branch to branch on the tree of death... that's all that can come from it. Death. Jesus didn't come to make "evil" people "good." He came to make dead people alive. By giving us an entirely different tree to eat from. The Tree of Life! From which comes the fruit of the Spirit, which is love. Jesus came to show us the Father, by showing us the Father's love. By giving us His Holy Spirit--the love receptor--so that we can receive and release His love. So that we can be loved, just as we are, and love others, just as they are. So we can stop trying to fit into some religious box, and stop trying to scare people to fit into that same box, and just live. Live Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life by letting Him live it in us, and through us, and as us. We're all just people. But what that really means is that we're all just love. And when we know who we are--when we know that we ARE love--that's when we CAN love!

I like words. Duh. I'm a writer, right? A writer who doesn't like words would be like a fish who doesn't like water. Words are an amazing way to express ourselves. Did you know there's even a word that means "incapable of being expressed or described in words"? It's ineffable. And I think that's the best way to describe people. People are ineffable. We defy description. There is no box you can put us all in. Or any of us, really. We're contradictory. Hot one day, cold the next. Ever changing. Always evolving. I'm so much different than I was even five years ago that I probably wouldn't even recognize myself. So when we try to apply a standard to people, I think the only one that fits is "just people." Because it evens the playing field. It doesn't let any one of us think we're better than any other. We're all just people. In the same world. Going through the same stuff. We put up a lot of walls, but the truth is we're all in this together. We're all different parts of the same body (whether we know it or not). We're all just people. And since we're all just people, we really ought to give each other a break. Give each other some mercy, and some grace, and some room to learn and grow. I try to quote this verse from Revelation as often as I can, because I never hear anybody else quote it ever. Revelation 21:11, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." We have to let people be people. We have to stop trying to change people. Don't we understand it's the GOODNESS of God that leads man to repentance? Not the scariness of God. Not the punishment of God, or the condemnation of God. The goodness. Showing someone a more excellent way, so that they'll have a reason to run TO God instead of running FROM Him. And guess what: The only way to show someone that more excellent way is to love them. Unconditionally. No matter what THEY do. And that's called the Word being made flesh. That's called love in action. Which is charity. Not expecting anything from anybody. Not trying to get anything from anybody. But giving something to somebody. Sharing what you have. Sharing experiences. Sharing strength. Even sharing weakness. Paul wrote about being all things to all people, right? Finding that common ground. Not demanding that someone come up to where you (think you) are at, but coming down to their level. We're just people. The ground is level at the cross. We don't have to make other people look smaller to make ourselves look bigger. We can stand shoulder to shoulder and bear one another's burdens. We can stop letting "issues" or other surface stuff distract us from the bond of love that is deep inside. The Jesus in me connecting to the Jesus in you. The deep calling out to the deep. Spirit to Spirit. Holy to holy. And not "holy" how it is usually preached. Not "holy" as the current culture of the day. But "holy" as in set apart. Which to me always meant, "If everybody is miserable, maybe Jesus set us apart to be happy." Joy unspeakable, right? Good cheer in the midst of whatever trials and tribulations come our way. And helping others through those same trials and tribulations. Not judging them for going through the same stuff we go through, but helping them through it. Because that's how we GET through it. Together.

This Rant series is pretty much a continuation of the last one. Because I'm stuck. And my pastor told me if I get stuck on something, I should preach it (or write it) until I'm empty on it. I'm calling this one "Just People" because as important as I hope we are now starting to understand people are... at the same time we need to start taking people AS they are. And we're all just people. We're messy. We're complicated. We make mistakes. So if we hold ourselves, or each other, to some impossible standard of what we think "holiness" is... well... that's where all of the condemnation comes from. There's a line from a movie that says, "I keep my expectations low, that way I'm never disappointed." And, really, I think that's how we should interact with each other. I think expectations are killers. And, honestly, how often does something live up to your expectations? Like, if something seems too good to be true... it probably is. But it's probably not as bad as we think either. So what we do is we miss out on what it ACTUALLY is. When Jesus said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10) the thief He was talking about was trying to enter into the sheepfold any other way but through the door! He was talking about human effort. He was talking about dead works. He was talking about US robbing OURSELVES by trying to earn a gift that can't be earned. He was talking about that impossible standard of "holiness" that the Law demands, but cannot produce. Jesus said in another place, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). But, as usual, this wasn't Jesus giving us an impossible mission. This was Jesus telling us HOW to be perfect. We are perfect as He is perfect. Because as He is, so are we in this world. How much more perfect could you possibly be than to have the Perfect One living in you, and through you, and as you? Perfection isn't the goal, it's the reality. This everlasting-life-long journey is not about "becoming" perfect. It's about God revealing to us what it MEANS to already BE perfect. Because we ARE complete in Him. Already. Because of the cross. Done deal. It is finished. And what it means to be perfect, as He is perfect... is receiving and releasing His perfect love! Any other standard falls away. It's all about love. That's our nature. True human nature is the love nature. And that's what it means to be human. That's what it means to experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Jesus. It's a life of love. People loving people. Doing everything we do because of love, and with love. "Why did you do that?" Because I love you. Period. Because we're all just people doing the best we can. Because you're worth the love that my Daddy filled me to overflowing with. Because we're all just people.

I just can't think of anything that's more important than people. And when I think about it, I can't think of one person being more important than another. And, listen, I have my favorites (my son and my little sister to name a few). But what I mean is, since I can't do everything... since I literally can't help every person on the earth... instead of feeling bad about that and condemning myself... what I oughta do is just focus on those that I CAN help. Focus on those that God HAS put in my path. Because they are just as important as anyone else. And since I already have a connection with them, I can affect them even more than I can affect a stranger. And I'm not saying we shouldn't help strangers if we're able. Talk about changing someone's whole world... a gift from a stranger will do that big time. I'm simply saying if you pour your life into someone, that's a life well-lived. If you can really get in there and equip and empower someone to be the best they can be... then you've really done something. But it seems like instead of focusing on people (specifically the people already in our lives) we'd rather focus on anything and everything else. We'd rather build walls than bridges. We'd rather make sure we know where everyone stands--so that we can either agree, or argue. We seem to do our best to always be at odds with someone. Drawing lines in the sand and making sure nobody crosses our line. I've Ranted on this before--the only way to truly guard your heart is by keeping it open to love. When we forget about people and focus on anything else, that's when things get really twisted. That's when people (who are probably already hurt) get hurt even worse. We knock others down to make ourselves feel bigger and better and stronger. We might "win" but if it comes at the expense of another person, aren't we really losing? Because we're all in this together. Believe it or not. We have to share this world we've been given. That's why all of creation is groaning, and waiting for the manifestation of the Son(s) of God. Because when the Jesus in us fills us to overflowing and comes out of us... that's when everything reveals itself to be in Divine Order. That's when things start making sense. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten into an argument with someone, and then after the fact--usually IMMEDIATELY after the fact--I felt horrible. My tummy hurt. And that's my litmus test: If something hurts my tummy I don't do it. Call it trusting your gut. Call it following your heart. And making someone else "lose" or feel bad doesn't pas the test. I'd rather be kind than right. I'd rather have a friend than win an argument. Because what good is it to always be right and always be alone? "For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36). I just think there are two important things in this universe: God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. Putting people first. Even above your own self. Because people are worth it. If ANYTHING is worth your time, talent, and treasure... it's people. God loves us so much that He would literally rather die than be without us. And we are commanded to love one another as He loves us. To receive and release the love of the Father. To be known as His disciples by the love we have one to another. Not by how "right" we are all the time. But by how much we love people!

You know the old saying, "You always want what you can't have"? I think that's because the thing we want-- the true and deep desire of our heart-- is to be loved. And, unfortunately, we don't think we deserve to be loved. We think love can be, MUST BE, earned. When, in truth, love is freely given. It can only be received. So we spend all of our time, talent, and treasure looking for love in all the wrong places. We get caught up in anything and everything else and we miss out on the thing we want most. Once, when I was a small boy, I heard a preacher say, "God is in the people business." And for a long time I didn't really understand what he meant. But I kept that phrase in my heart, because it resonated with me, even then. I mean, think about it: The Word became flesh. God, who is a Spirit, became man. That's how interested He is in man. David writes, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4). And what that says to me is that God's mind is full of man. Deuteronomy 32:10 says, "He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." Think about that. Man is the apple of God's eye. God's mind is full of man. Guys, He's not mad AT us, He's mad ABOUT us! He's abolutely head over heels in love with us. And not because of what we've done, or what we're going to do either. Love isn't conditional. It's not dependent on actions. Again: We can't earn it. Love is not about what we do. Love is about who we are. We are people. And we were created in the image and likeness of God Himself. He is the Father and we are the Son(s) of God! He loves us because of who we are, and because of who He is. Period. And since God IS love, He would have to deny Himself to do anything but love us. He'd have to stop being God to stop loving us. He created this entire world for us. And, again, I'm not getting into any issues. That's my point these last couple of days. I don't want to argue and fight about things. I don't want to be proven right if that means proving you wrong. I have another old saying for you, "Can't we all just get along?". For real though. We don't have to agree on everything in order to love each other. In order to protect each other and take care of each other. Differences are what makes people interesting. Variety is the spice of life, right? How boring would it be if everybody was exactly the same and agreed on everything? But what we do is we let those differences act as walls between us. We let those differences drive wedges between us. We forget that at the bottom of every issues is a real life person. And if it's an issue, it's probably because people on both sides are hurting. So instead of trying to crush our enemies, why don't we get rid of our enemies by making them our friends? Why don't we just love people regardless instead of setting up hoops for them to jump through? Why don't we get to the REAL issue, which is the issue of life, which flows from the heart. And the reason life flows from the heart is because to live is to love and to love is to live! Loving PEOPLE is the difference between life and death. And that's why God gave us His Spirit. So we might know and believe we are loved, and love each other with that same love. We don't have to try to get something that we think we don't have, or don't deserve. We can simply start to share what we've got!

When we take the time to pour ourselves into people, we affect, well, everything really. Because you never know what that person you just gave love to is going to do. Because love empowers us. The love of the Father always empowers the Son. When the Holy Spirit landed on Jesus when He came out of the waters of baptism, His Daddy told Him who He was. "You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And then He was tested by the devil in the wilderness, right? And He said, "...It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). And the Word (love) that had just proceeded out of God's mouth was, "You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased"! (I don't mind repeating it over and over, because I believe people learn through repitition. In other words, I'll keep saying it until someone believes it.) And isn't it interesting that Jesus said we LIVE by the Word? Because to live is to love and to love is to live. If you don't love your brother you abide in death. We know that we have passed from death into life because we love each other. Not because we agree on all the issues. Not because we obey the letter of the law. "...for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Corinthians 3:6). I'm telling you right now, it's all about love. Which means it's all about people. And, again, I'm not saying you can't--or shouldn't--love the earth. Logan LOVES nature. This is the planet we have, and we need to take care of it. I get that. Really. But what I'm talking about is the most important resource we have; each other. Sometimes I wonder how different things would be if we would stop fussing and fighting each other and work together. If we would stop stifling any spark of creativity we see because it's "different" or "weird." The meek will inherit the earth, but the creative will mold it and shape it. So, really, loving people IS loving the earth. Why do you think all of creation is groaning as it waits for the manifestation of the Son(s) of God? Because when we really begin to BE who we are--God's expression of love in this dimension--EVERYTHING will reveal itself in Divine Order. (I believe everything is already in Divine Order, but it takes the heart to experience it. The eyes of the heart to see it, the ears of the heart to hear it, the mind of Christ (or the heart) to process it.) And what does it mean to live from the inside-out? To live from the heart in every sense of the word? It means loving each other. Cherishing each other. Protecting each other and taking care of each other. But this is where it gets tricky. Because almost every "issue" puts some people on one side and some people on the other. People think they have to attack one group to protect another. I've never met people as ready to start a fight than "church folk." There's always a mountain to make out of a molehill. But I rarely see any turning of the other cheek. I rarely see an compassion, or any mercy, or any grace. We think it's more important to be "right" than to be "kind." But if I have to be right, that means you have to be wrong. I'd rather get along than win. Because I don't want you to feel like a loser. I don't want any condemnation. I want harmony, and unity, and love. One body working together to take care of itself (by taking care of each individual part, no matter how different that part is). We're all just people. And, believe it or not, we're all in this together!

God and people. The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that those are the two most important things in the universe. Because they are both love. God is love, and people are His expression of love. Now don't get me wrong, I know the earth itself is important. It's our home, and we need to take care of it. What I'm really trying to focus in on in this Rant series is the value we put on each other. Because a lot of the time it seems like we are willing to crush each other. We're willing to step on people in order to get ourselves higher. And we're willing to sacrifice people in order to "be right" about an issue. We seem to forget how important people are. I think this quote is from the Talmud, "And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world." Now that's what I'm talking about! Because sometimes I feel like all I can do is affect one person. Sometimes I don't feel like I'm doing all that much. BUT if the person I affect then goes on to affect someone else... and on and on and on. AND, I may not be changing THE world, but sometimes it's enough to change HIS world. I know there are a lot of people on this planet. Something like 6 or 7 billion, right? And I know my sphere of influence is pretty small. But here's the thing about a small circle-- it's strong. When you really get in there with someone you can connect on a level that the faceless masses might not be able to. Jesus had 12 disciples, right? He ministered to everyone He came into contact with, but He really poured Himself into a dozen men. And not the type of men you might have expected Him to pick either. Fishermen (fishers OF men). Blue collar workers. Regular guys. Because Jesus understood that the world is made up of regular people. Even Paul found that he had to really struggle sometimes to meet people on their level, because Paul was a very, very smart man. Which is why he wrote about being all things to all people. Finding that connection. That common ground. Not making the Gospel (the good news that Daddy loves us and has reconciled us to Himself through the cross) too difficult. And not letting "issues" get in the way. (Unless you count that whole spat about circumcision, but we're all human, right?) My point is, if you'd rather be right then kind, you may be wrong. Jesus said it like this, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Matthew 23:23). See, there are issues... and there are the ways we deal with people. One group is weightier than the other. And in the Bible glory means weight. So one of these groups is more glorious than the other. More important. It's like the age-old question, "What good is it to have everything in the world and no one to share it with?" Things are better when they are shared. Because it's not good for man to be alone. Because we're supposed to be connected together. And the only thing that CAN connect us together is love. The deep calling out to the deep. God expressing His love FOR people THROUGH people. Making other people a priority, and SHOWING them the more excellent way of love. And that's exactly where I want to go tomorrow, so that's where I'll leave it today!