He That Has An Ear

It has been said that toward the end of his life, whenever the Apostle John was called upon to speak, he would slowly rise to say, "Little children - love one another," and, with that said, he would retake his seat.

"He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." I John 2:9-11

Upon reading this passage, most of us would say, "Well, that's not speaking to me - I don't hate anybody." It would serve us all well to allow the Lord to examine our heart in this matter in the light of what this verse actually means:

HATE - from the Greek miseo (me-se'-o) - to detest, despise, or disparage;
TO SEPARATE FROM, an aversion - usually deriving from fear.

To hate, as to love, is a choice of our free will exemplified by our actions. When we willfully separate ourselves from a brother in Christ (except for reasons of deliberate sinfulness clearly outlined in I Corinthians 5:9-13 and elsewhere) we are fulfilling the definition of what it means to hate and, according to the scripture above, we are in darkness and cannot see where we are going, because the intensity of the Light to illuminate our way has been diminished (Matthew 6:22-23).

"This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." I John 1:5-7

Darkness is the absence of light. Light lives in believers who confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus, Yeshua is the Christ, the Messiah and that He died for our sin (Romans 10:9; Luke 17:20-21). When we put separation between ourselves and another believer, we diminish the Light we need to find our way into the spirit of truth.

"And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes into the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." John 3:19-21

How, then, do we PRACTICALLY walk in the light? (to have fellowship means to have relationship). James 5:16 says to, "…confess your sins to one another (transparency), and pray for one another, that you may be healed." If we are not fellowshipping with one another, if there is no room for relationship, there is no way we can have transparency with one another, there is no way for Light to shine into our heart. We need one another. We need the Light within each of us who call upon the Name of the Lord to shine into our hearts to illuminate darkness. Otherwise, darkness remains.

The key to these passages is to walk in the light as He demonstrated that walk. When we say, "I forgive you….but I won't have anything more to do with you," we are not walking in the same light as our Lord did (Psalm 119:165). The manner in which He walked, the way He taught us, was to forgive completely and continue to embrace us. We teach it to our children in song - "…cast into the sea, never to be remembered any more." Jesus said to forgive a brother 70 x 7 - in a single day (Matthew 18:22). That means to forgive AND FORGET for that is the way He forgave, and forgives, us. It also means to not wait on the brother, but for us to take the initiative (Matthew 5:23-24; Hebrews 13:16).

Are there those who will abuse the transparency we strive to walk in? Absolutely - the scriptures tell us there will be, so as to prove those who ARE true (I Corinthians 11:19; 4:5). They are not to be my concern. They will be dealt with by the Lord in His own time and in His own way. I am to concern myself with my own heart and how I relate to others who call upon His Name.

Are there those who will take advantage of our humility toward them? Absolutely - but we are called to serve them that they might be set free from their bondage. Who did Jesus serve but the unlovely, the ungrateful, the unappreciative and those who would scorn and mock Him. We are called to do the same (Galatians 5:10-15). They are still a part of the Body of Christ and need the Light within us as much, if not more, as we need theirs.

Is it painful? You better believe it - probably some of the most intense agony you will ever suffer. But, it is in the embracing of that pain, not the avoidance of it, that we are set free (I Peter 2:19-24).

When we choose to separate ourselves from another brother in the Lord because of ANYTHING (other than overt, willful sin clearly and commonly accepted among the Body) we are walking in darkness and are promoting division among believers. That division hinders the work of the Lord. The Power that was evident among those believers recorded in Acts 5:16 was a direct result of them understanding what it meant to be in one accord. If we are to walk in that same Power today, if we desire to witness the awesomeness of the Power of God manifested in the earth in these last days, then we, the Body of Christ, must also CHOOSE to come into one accord, CHOOSE to lay aside the doctrines that divide us and CHOOSE to recognize, in practice, that there is but one Body and one Spirit and one Lord of us all. He is waiting on us, His Body, to make those choices.

"Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."I Corinthians 1:10.

"Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."
I Corinthians 1:10.