Relationships
Humanity trends toward isolation and frictionless living.
“Human well-being depends on the ability to navigate the social world, a skill acquired primarily through interactions with others. Such social learning depends on reliable feedback: recognizing when we are mistaken, when harm has been caused, and when others’ perspectives warrant consideration…. Social life is rarely frictionless because people are not perfectly attuned to one another. Yet it is precisely through such social friction that relationships deepen and moral understanding develops.”—Anat Perry
Biblical Theology
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God.”—John 1:1
“God is like Jesus. God has always been like Jesus. There has never been a time when God was not like Jesus. We have not always known what God is like—But now we do.”—Brian Zahnd
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”—John 13:34
Jesus And Judas
Jesus loves amid betrayal.
“When he had gone out, Jesus said…”—John 13:31
Love includes enemies.
“You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”—Matthew 5:44
“I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.”—Dorothy Day
Jesus And Peter
Sacrificial love is built on joyous love.
“Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.’”—John 13:36–38
Jesus not only enters into relationships with friction, with betrayal, with pain. He also enters into relationships with forgiveness, reconciliation, with grace, with love.
Jesus And Us
“Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.’”—John 13:31–33, 35
“It is worth noting that Willard altered the Latin from the traditional singular (“naked one”) to the plural (“naked ones”)... This shift may have been a subtle but significant theological move on Willard’s part: a way of expressing the communal nature of discipleship. We follow the naked Christ not as isolated individuals but as a community of apprentices….
It becomes clear that the symbols on his business card and letterhead are more than decorative—they are declarative. Christian formation is cruciform; to follow the Lamb is to be poured out with him for the sake of others. And placing the image and phrase so plainly next to his credentials and contact details—almost as a personal coat of arms—amounts to a quiet confession of a deeper identity than scholar or philosopher: an apprentice of Jesus, nakedly following his naked Lord.”—Keas Keasler
The community Jesus calls us to is one of sacrifice, of nakedness. It is one that ultimately leads to humiliation, heartbreak, and pain.
Spiritual Practice
Love one another as Jesus loves.
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”—John 13:35
Relationships marked by friction, forgiveness, and sacrifice reveal a world made whole.
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.”—John 3:16–17 (MSG)
Are you making the world whole through your relationships?
“To love is to be vulnerable.”—C.S. Lewis
