Loving the Unlovely

Loving The Unlovely
Phil. 2:1-11

One of the hallmarks of true Christianity is the ability Christ gives his followers to love the unlovely. Something that sets Christianity apart from the other world religions is the Jesus fueled capacity to treat others the way we want to be treated. There is a reason why the caste system still operates in India today, and it is connected to Hinduism.1 One of the closely guarded secrets of our day is the prevalence of the sex trade in fundamentalists Islamic countries. Why is it that a country like Iran, that will stone a teenage girl to death for walking down the road holding her boyfriend‘s hand, has seen a 635% increase in legalized prostitution in the years it has been in power? Why is it that in Tehran you can find over 200 houses of prostitution with over 80,000 prostitutes working the streets? Why is it that the head of Iran‘s Interpol bureau believes that the sex trade is one of Iran‘s most profitable activities?2 It has to do with Islam‘s view of women. There is a reason why the slave trade is flourishing in Islamic countries, and it has to do with their belief system.3

Contrast this with the influence Christianity has had over the years. Who was the driving force behind the abolition of slavery in England? William Wilberforce. Was he just a social ―do-gooder,‖ was he a wealthy philanthropist who had a soft heart, or was there something more important driving him? There was something more compelling him to stand up for the dignity of all men, and it was his commitment to Christ. Wilberforce came to Christ for salvation under the ministry of John Wesley, and in fact, the last letter Wesley ever wrote was to Wilberforce encouraging him to carry on in his work.

John Piper writes of Wilberforce like this. ‗What made Wilberforce tick was a profound Biblical allegiance to what he called the ―peculiar doctrines‖ of Christianity. These, he said, give rise, in turn, to true affections—what we might call ―passion‖ or ―emotions‖—for spiritual things, which, in turn, break the power of pride and greed and fear, and then lead to transformed morals which, in turn, lead to the political welfare of the nation. He said, ―If … a principle of true Religion [i.e., true Christianity] should … gain ground, there is no estimating the effects on public morals, and the consequent influence on our political welfare.‖‘

Wilberforce wasn‘t the only reason behind the abolition of slavery. Thomas Sowell says, ―The anti-slavery movement was spearheaded by people who would today be called ―the religious right‖ and its organization was created by conservative businessmen. Moreover, what destroyed slavery in the non-Western world was Western imperialism. Nothing could be more jolting and discordant with the vision of today‘s intellectuals than the fact that it was businessmen, devout religious leaders and Western imperialists who together destroyed slavery around the world.‖4

The reason Christianity operates this way is because of its founder, Jesus Christ, and we see the example he set in Phil. 2:1-11. Read these verses along with me.
If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself (do you see how this flies in the face of other world religions?); 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Note the example Jesus sets for us as his followers:

1. He left a place of comfort and honor to go to a place of privation and derision. Think about what it would be like for you to leave your life and all its creature comforts and move to the Sudan. Now, multiply that by several thousand times and you see what Jesus had to go through to leave heaven and live on earth!

2. He associated himself primarily with the working class, the socially marginalized, and even the outcasts. He certainly didn‘t receive the royal treatment when he got here.

3. He focused ministry on the receptive needy, not the affluent indifferent. Jesus seemed to focus his ministry on those people who didn‘t have the capacity to reciprocate. What a difference between the groups of people Jesus targeted for ministry and the people most church planters target for establishing new churches.

The point I am making here is that Jesus sets the example for us emptying ourselves, crossing social barriers and loving the unlovely. This example runs 180 degrees opposite to our human nature.

Sociologists have a term called the ―homogeneity principle.‖ In a nutshell, it says that human beings like to hang out with other people just like them. The statistic is that you can go to any group of humans on the globe (e.g., a volunteer fire company, a local church, a bar, a neighborhood, a health club) and you will find that 80% of the people in the group are just like each other in three categories: their level of education, their level of income, and their ethnicity. 10% of the people in that group will be lower than the rest, and 10% will be higher than the rest. What this tells us about human nature is that we like to be with other people who are just like us!

But the example Jesus sets for us compels us to do things that are contrary to human leanings, and history is full of examples. If you‘d like to do an interesting study, look into the life of Father Damien, a catholic priest who ministered to the lepers of Hawaii. He ended up contracting the dreaded disease and eventually died as a result of his leprosy. But his Christianity compelled him to love the unlovely. Think of the Moravian men who sold themselves into slavery so they could be shipped to the islands to work on the sugar cane plantations, and minister to the slaves there.

There is a movie currently out called Of Gods and Men, and it is a great illustration of this point. It is the true story of a group of monks living in a monastery in Islamic Algeria during the 1990‘s when there was a bloody civil war. They have to decide if they want to leave or stay with their community when that community comes under threat by militant Islamic terrorists. They stay, because that is what followers of Christ do. When the mayor of the village offers to station government troops at the monastery for their protection, they decline the offer, and sure enough, seven of them get kidnapped by the terrorists, and they are found two months later, beheaded. Sometimes that is where following the example of Jesus will lead you. It‘s certainly where Jesus ended up.

I think of all the orphanages that were established by Christians meeting practical needs of society. Think of all the hospitals that were founded for the same purpose. Think of the social programs churches used to run that provided food, shelter, education, and clothing for the destitute. It all has to do with following the example Jesus set of ministering to the needy. And when the church relinquished its responsibility in these areas and gave them to the government, poverty exploded, the cost of health care exploded, and the cost of social services exploded, and the cost of adoptions exploded. What is the connection?

The connection is that when the motive for each of these changed from selfless ministry in the name of Christ to revenue producing enterprises, the cost of these activities exploded. It shouldn‘t cost $20,000.00 to adopt a baby from Russia, but why does it? Because adoption agencies aren‘t serving Christ, they are generating revenue. It shouldn‘t cost $24,000.00 for an appendectomy, but it does. Why? Because hospitals aren‘t in the business of Christian, physical compassion anymore, they have boards of directors to answer to and have to show a profit. It shouldn‘t cost $99 billion to take care of poverty in America, but it does. Why? Because welfare is big business.

Are you starting to see the difference Christ makes in practical ways? Jesus set the standard when he left his place of comfort and went to a place of deprivation, when he associated himself with the socially ostracized, and when he focused ministry on the needy who couldn‘t minister back to him. And there are times when Jesus calls on us to follow Him in this manner. So I‘d like Shaun to come up at this time and share with us his testimony of where he spent last weekend, because it is a perfect illustration of being obedient to the call of Jesus.

I want to end our study about loving the unlovely with a powerful passage in Luke 6. It is found in verses 31 – 35.

31 "And just as you want people to treat you, treat them in the same way. 32 "And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.33 "And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 "And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, in order to receive back the same amount. 35 "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

Do you see the difference between ministering to those who have the capacity to reciprocate, and ministry to those who can‘t reciprocate? Ministry to those who can minister back isn‘t wrong, it‘s legitimate ministry. But that isn‘t what distinguishes a follower of Christ – even unsaved people do that. What makes us stand out is our willingness to

 love the unlovely,

 do good to the ungrateful, and

 lend without any expectation of return.

The promise of Jesus is that if we will do that, our reward will be great, we will be demonstrating that we are sons of God, and we will be truly following the example of Jesus.

Footnotes:

1 http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/dharmadata/fdd53.htm

2 A measure of Islamic fundamentalists‘ success in controlling society is the depth and totality with which they suppress the freedom and rights of women. In Iran for 25 years, the ruling mullahs have enforced humiliating and sadistic rules and punishments on women and girls, enslaving them in a gender apartheid system of segregation, forced veiling, second-class status, lashing, and stoning to death. Joining a global trend, the fundamentalists have added another way to dehumanize women and girls: buying and selling them for prostitution. Exact numbers of victims are impossible to obtain, but according to an official source in Tehran, there has been a 635 percent increase in the number of teenage girls in prostitution. The magnitude of this statistic conveys how rapidly this form of abuse has grown. In Tehran, there are an estimated 84,000 women and girls in prostitution, many of them are on the streets, others are in the 250 brothels that reportedly operate in the city. The trade is also international: thousands of Iranian women and girls have been sold into sexual slavery abroad. The head of Iran‘s Interpol bureau believes that the sex slave trade is one of the most profitable activities in Iran today. This criminal trade is not conducted outside the knowledge and participation of the ruling fundamentalists. Government officials themselves are involved in buying, selling, and sexually abusing women and girls. http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/iran_sex_slave_trade

3 Tragically, Muslims are still enslaving blacks today in Africa. African-American economist Dr Walter Williams of George Mason University writes in Black Slavery is Alive in 2001:‗Slavery in the Sudan is in part a result of a 15-year war by the Muslim north against the black Christian and animist south. Arab militias, armed by the Khartoum government, raid villages, mostly those of the Dinka tribe. They shoot the men and enslave the women and children. Women and children are kept as personal property or they‘re taken north and auctioned off. http://creation.com/anti-slavery-activist-william-wilberforce-christian-hero

4 http://creation.com/anti-slavery-activist-william-wilberforce-christian-hero