God has placed in the universal heart of man a desire to “love thy neighbor” through acts of kindness and compassion. This is especially evident during the holiday season. We are confronted with ringing bells and red caldrons (Salvation Army) while shopping for just the right gift to make our loved ones smile. We are blanketed with cards and letters petitioning us to “give” to needy cause after needy cause. The airwaves are loaded with one donation website after another, complete with QR codes for quick access.

For some reason, this season of the year, every year, has been designated as the time to give. And all the charities come out of the woodwork with their individual pitch in the space of two months out of twelve.

Why?

Obviously, there is a reason why charity advertising has a cyclical peak between Thanksgiving and New Years. Hearts are softer and more open. People are more reflective of their place in life and the needs of others. We travel more, shop more, watch TV more, and so are exposed more to the need to help others. But, does all this compassion toward those less fortunate draw us closer to God?… It depends on where we are starting from.

The Experiment

I was asked by a Commenter to consider the impact of “spending six months loving one another as Jesus loves; do not judge, forgive immediately, and be a servant to all.” The question to be answered from this focus was:

Does Jesus’ commandment to love one another, as He loves, bring you closer to one another and/or God?

John 13:34 – A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Parsing his question above… will love, no judgement, and immediate forgiveness toward our neighbor result in us drawing “closer to God” and/or will this change in behavior result only in greater affirmation from our fellow man? 

Will the application of these behavior changes draw us closer to God if we don’t already know Him, or will they draw us closer to integration into the world which is the source of affirmation for those who don’t already have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Would not six months of devoted prayer, Bible study, worship attendance, and fellowship as a born-again believer be an appropriate prerequisite to “The Experiment” in order to comply with the most important command of Jesus, by His own words….

Matthew 22:36-40 – “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Note the order of the “first” and then “second” greatest commandment. In this world Christians are commanded to have strong horizontal relationships as we “build each other up” (1 Thes. 5:11) and share the Good News with a lost and dying world (our neighbors). But we first need to have built a strong vertical relationship with God (i.e. we need to be a born-again Christian), and then apply God’s love toward our neighbor.

Those who profess a desire to love their neighbor without first loving God short circuit the process He put in place, which has eternal consequences, both for the giver and for the recipient.