I talk a lot about the three unique qualities of Christ’s love – personal identification, commitment, and sacrifice. In Christ’s Incarnation, God has identified with us and committed to us. And in redemption, God has sacrificed for us. Then we’re commanded to love each other the same way. That means we’re supposed to duplicate these qualities in our relationships with others. How to imitate these qualities in men’s team ministry to widows and single moms makes up a major portion of my introductory seminar.
But I have a question: is there a specific order to these unique qualities of Christ’s love? Or are they random? In other words, can you commit to someone you don’t know, or sacrifice for someone you aren’t committed to?
I can think of a few situations where the order may be changed. For example, there are stories of people who have seen children in the street. Even though they didn’t know the children personally, they pushed them out of the way of oncoming vehicles and were themselves killed.
But I think in everyday life, personal identification normally comes first, then commitment, and then sacrifice. We see this natural progression from personal identification through commitment to sacrifice in Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians.
First we read about Paul’s “partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,” (1:5). Then he talks about his affection for them in verses 7 and 8, and then he prays that they will have “knowledge” and “insight” in verse 9.
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in Gods grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
So the result of Paul’s personal identification with, and commitment to, the Philippians – and their personal identification with him – is mutual affection and an increase in knowledge and insight.
Then in Philippians 2:1-5, Paul talks about how their personal identification with each other and commitment to each other in Christ naturally leads to sacrifice for each other.
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In principle, then, Paul says that sacrifice normally results from personal identification and commitment and not the opposite. And in practice, we experience this truth every day. We naturally sacrifice for the people we know and have come to love.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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