Bible Study Notes - Love Withn the Community - 1 John 2:7-17

Love Within the Community – 1 John 2:7-17

The “Culture of Narcissism”

The late Professor Christopher Lasch, a prominent social critic at the time of his death, wrote a lasting book by the title of this section. In The Culture of Narcissism, Lasch excoriated the American media for glamorizing selfishness and hedonism.  He cautioned the public for turning inward excessively and ignoring the needs of others.  At the time of publication, the book was a response to glorified narcissism on many college and university campuses in which few students aspired to graduate school or professions of service.  Many wanted to pursue legal, business and medical careers with the aspirations of making lots of money and buying many material things.  The prevalence of this thinking erodes volunteerism and community service. Its most unfortunate outcome was the fanciful idea positing the poor are responsible for their poverty.  Their failure to apply themselves and work hard yields their destitute lot in life.  Allowing the truth of that proposition for a percentage of the poor, it nevertheless ignores the predominant systemic causes of impoverishment for many citizens.  Lasch’s polemic warns about an approaching America that celebrates a self-centered approach to life that permits indifference to the pain and suffering of other people.  More disturbing than Lasch’s clarion call for reform is the reality that this thinking infiltrates the Church.  Many believers spiritualize “the American dream” and biblically sanction “rugged individualism.” 

Jesus establishes a new law of love which calls disciples to a standard of caring for the poor and others that surpasses black letter law.  In John 13:32-35, the Lord says the world will know we are His disciples by the love we show to each other.  Love for people to whom we are not related biologically is a distinction for the family of God.  It does not matter what a person’s legacy, pedigree or genealogy are.  We love him because he is a child of God and for no other reason.  We love because the Lord first loved us.  We love in gratitude for the love we receive.  We love without expecting anything in return.  We love without wanting to receive recognition for our deeds, words and sharing.  We love, finally, in obedience to the command of our Lord.  Today’s lesson affords us an opportunity to assess how well we are obeying the Lord’s command to love.  Assuredly, the Lord is not directing us to love with words only.  We demonstrate our love by sharing the resources of our time, talent, tithe and temperament.  In essence, rhetoric and reality must fit like a hand in a tailored glove.

Nonetheless, the question remains whether the Church practically and commendably follows this command of the Lord.  Does the larger society look at the Church, worldwide or local, and marvel at our selfless sharing of our resources to the honor and glory of Christ?  Are we the first ones to respond to natural disasters with food, clothing, shelter, and programs for long term recovery and restoration?  Do we sit idly by and wait for the governments of the world to handle the needs of God’s children?  As a member of your local church, do you feel the unconditional love of Christ from your fellow brothers and sisters?  Can someone reliably characterize your church as a place of love for all persons who enter?

Biblical Background

The gospel and epistles of John emerge within the “Beloved Community.”  This gathering of disciples, as biblical tradition holds, centered on the Apostle John, the youngest of the original eleven apostles and the Beloved Disciple.  Geographically, they were located in the region that included the city of Ephesus.  However, it is not thought that they comprised the church at Ephesus to whom the Apostle Paul writes the New Testament canonical letter.  A vibrant metropolitan area at the time with major commerce, diverse people because of the trade routes and plurality of religion, philosophy and ideology not to mention myriad cultural customs, this region presented a formidable challenge to the believers there.  How would they handle the inherent clashes between Christ and culture?  How would they follow the dictates to love unconditionally and selflessly given the predominant selfishness of the surrounding society?

These are not rhetorical questions.  They were major challenges for members of the Beloved Community some of whom struggled with fidelity to the teachings of Christ.  The Apostle John writes the epistle from which today’s text comes to clarify this issue for young disciples of Christ who benefit from John’s direct experience with the Lord.  Regrettably, he addresses the occurrence of persons who left the Beloved Community because they did not subscribe wholeheartedly to Christ’s commands to love.  He says they leave because in their hearts they did not really belong.  Their first century dilemma mirrors a pressing challenge for the contemporary American church.