Greater Love

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

When you hear that verse, what comes to mind? A firefighter running into a burning building? Images from the bank shootout in California? Someone jumping up to take a bullet for someone they care about? Emergency services in New York on 9-11? All are and were heroic acts, but they are not common occurances.

Those are an example of the ultimate sacrifice. What I am going to go into doesn't come close to that, but could still impact someone's life.

Picture a group of kids on the playground. In this group are a few Christian kids. Imagine that this group is picking on a kid because they are different. Do the Christian kids leave the group they are in - their life - and go to the one who is being picked on and risk being picked on, too? How much impact would that have with the kid? What would happen to the "middle of the road" kids - the ones who know that what they are doing isn't right, but do it anyway because nobody else is helping the kid?

Now picture a guy who has been a Christian for 20 years. He stops at the bar on the way home to have a drink. The Bible doesn't say not to have a drink, it says not to give in to drunkenness, right? He is at the bar one night, and in walks a guest from his church, one who was there for the first time on the past Sunday. He sits down, orders a drink, and notices the man from church. He doesn't know if the older Christian has had one drink or five, but he's at the bar having drinking, so it must be ok, right?

What about the people in the magnificent church with stained glass windows and everything you could think of for a church, but they do nothing outside the church for the community and the people living there.

Matthew 5
46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?

Finally, picture Jesus beaten and bleeding, hanging on the Cross. Taking our sins upon Himself, so that we wouldn't have to.

Will friends turn on us? Not if they were really friends... Will the world turn on us? Probably...They turned on Jesus, I don't know of anyone better than Him.

Nobody said life is fair.
We've all got a cross to bear.
When it gets a little hard to care,
Just think about Him hangin' there.
- Collin Raye "What if Jesus comes back like that"

To paraphrase an old saying: Your life may be the only Bible that someone reads.