Love in Action

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” —James 5:16

WE WILL not examine the root meanings of love, or the various Greek words so translated. We will not be technical or scholarly. But we shall endeavor to be practical, because when we speak of love in action we are talking about its evidence in our lives. We hope to explore the manifestations of love in our relations with one another, and to consider problems which may indicate inaction of love.

If we have love for the Lord, and love for one another, it means that we love self less. We hope that we will eventually come to love self not at all. In our text the apostle, speaking in relation to specific matters, lays down a general principle that many of us have followed in our testimony meetings. His admonition causes one to consider, What attitude will a confession of this kind, confessing my faults to others, create in me? We admit that to the natural-minded this kind of admonition sounds like strange counsel.

The perspective of the scripture is that none of the Lord’s servants should attempt to stand alone, to serve alone, or to be strong alone. Rather, the apostle is striving to encourage the development of a brotherhood in the complete meaning of that word—a brotherhood wherein each loves the others; a brotherhood wherein each will do and give and die to serve one another. And in this broad concept of the brotherhood we are thankful that the saints of the early age had in mind the complete brotherhood, including those who were to come to a knowledge of the truth in this, our time. Our view of this should be similar: it is a brotherhood whose members, while knowing what they do of one another, will use that knowledge for their assistance and growth.

It is possible to use a mirror with the wrong thought in mind. In comparing our brethren with ourselves, sometimes, because of our self-approbativeness, we may find that we are somewhat satisfied with what we have wrought. But if we use the mirror for its true purpose of enabling us to make a comparison between ourselves and the perfect Pattern—which is really the only logical basis of comparison—then we will not be well-pleased with the results of this examination.

James seems to have given us divine advice, and therefore we are convinced that it is good advice. When we confess our faults to one another it indicates that we have been watching ourselves, having before us the perfect Pattern, and have discerned that there is a lack in ourselves. It assures us that others may be striving and failing as we may be, and this might be one of the principal encouragements that each of us can draw from hearing someone else reveal the awareness of their own mistakes. It indicates that we sincerely want to do better, and that subsequent failings of our own will not be approved, any more than past failures.

Confessing our faults to one another gives us an opportunity of prayer on one another’s behalf, which is, of course, the specific point the apostle is making in James 5. It testifies that we will not rejoice in the knowledge of another’s faults, even as we ourselves wish similarly to be dealt with by our brethren.

And yet, how will such heart confession of ours aid toward our sanctification, if we in turn do not believe such confessions by our brethren? If, instead, we think that such a one has not really been doing an adequate job of fighting, and just must not have been called by God; if, instead, we think of him as weak, and not overcoming because of a lack of application; or if we conclude, perhaps even properly, that a brother or sister is always failing in the same test? If in any of these points any of us judges another, then the love of the brotherhood is not functioning as it should.

Is it truly possible for any of us to draw near to God, and not draw near to his people? This was apparently a subject which John considered in his association with the early brethren, because he states, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”—I John 4:20

Does our love for our brethren create within us the patience to bear with them in their frailties? Or do we try to avoid them, or hold aloof from them? Is this the full reach of our love for those whom the Lord has called? Surely it must be deeper, warmer, more personal than this! Do we ourselves get help, but refrain from giving encouragement? This brings us to consideration of a point of which we have only been touching the fringes—what brotherly love really is.

Bringing this to our notice in Corinthians, Paul calls to our attention the closeness of the brotherhood, and suggests certain emotions that should be shared by every member who claims to be a participant in the body of Christ: whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. And the reason for this is, “Ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” Now this suffering, of course, can have many aspects, but personal interest, sympathy, and concern are also part of participating in the brotherhood; sharing the things of the truth; recognizing life’s experiences, joyous or trying, and striving to encourage one another to overcome.

At the time we were drawn to the Lord, each one of us was found in a different condition. We had acquired the various elements that made up our character by heredity, by environment, by training and by our economic situation. We received some of these from our parentage; that is, from the interest that our parents showed in us; the understanding and love they manifested in us. We acquired others from religious influences, from other bondages, from all sorts of disciplines, or lack of discipline. We got some from being granted responsibilities, or from being protected from responsibilities, when growing up. But the Lord has one common, finished character in mind. And that is why each of us is engaged in the perfecting of his own character. There are certain distinctive qualities which the Lord designs to develop in all his children during the Gospel Age. We may say, then, that there is one common character.

We do not mean that all will attain to identical characters; but characters which have in common all the needed qualities: faith, hope, love, justice, wisdom, peace, sobriety, moderation. The Apostle Peter refers to some of these in II Peter 1:4-7. At the same time, there are certain characteristics which we may possess even after entrance into the school of Christ which he would want us to remove under his hand and instruction.

Just because we have been called and have made an intelligent response to his call does not mean that all of the things we inherited through Adam’s family have all at once evaporated. Nor does it mean that we have been able in a year, or even in ten years, to divest ourselves of these undesirable qualities. Some of these the apostle refers to in Romans 1:28-32: envy, pride, backbiting, mercilessness; being implacable or disposed not to forgive; boasters, pitiless.

It is not to be wondered at that we have to fight against such things, for Paul said in I Corinthians 1:26-31 that God pursued a unique procedure in the calling of his elect. He decided not to call many of the well-born and those that are noble, but rather, to call those that are low-born and who in the world’s estimation are as nothing, that the glory and the accomplishment of this new creation might properly reside in his (God’s) workmanship. So we find that we possess qualities of character that we want to put away. Through his Holy Spirit the Lord has promised us power and strength, that we might be perfected if we will be rightly exercised. So we must conclude that we have a task before us of fighting and development and improvement before the Lord finds us acceptable for that which is reserved for the overcomers. And if this be so with us, reason teaches us that it is also so for our brethren; that they also may be aware of the work that is still to be done in them.

We will not be victorious in this narrow way if we strive merely to coat our own characters with a veneer of righteousness, or aim to develop our powers of restraint so we can hide our heart’s true characteristics. This will not be acceptable to the Master Workman. What we need to do is to perfect and purify and cleanse the heart from these characteristics, so the service of the Lord and the accomplishment of his will is the very epitome of our desire and objective.

Jesus possessed a perfect character, and he proved completely obedient and completely loving and faithful by the trials he endured, being faithful unto death. It is not so with us. We do not have a perfect character, nor do we have a perfect organism to withstand the test without mistakes; but we are perfecting a character; we are striving to develop the desired qualities. The qualities of character must be the same as those he possessed, but on this side of the vail we lack the perfection of organism in which to express them perfectly. We cannot manifest them perfectly, but we need to have and actually achieve the perfect intention, the perfect desire to manifest them. And then, having this perfect intention, we can recognize when we have fallen short of the achievement of this objective. We must reach this perfection of intention before we will be granted perfect spiritual bodies in which to accomplish God’s will perfectly.

The apostle says, “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ”; that is, we are developing or incorporating into our characters Christlikeness. It is just as it was with Jesus. He said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am straitened until it be accomplished.” We must get this view of the Master’s objective in proper focus. When Paul says, “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” this is not to say that we have completed the activity, but merely that we have begun the work. It will be completed in the fruition of our labors, if we continue this baptism.

Paul again says we should “put on the new man, and put off the old man with his deeds.” Peter joins with counsel concerning the manifestation of love, which is love in action. In I Peter 3:8 he says: “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be sympathetic, courteous.” When he says “finally,” we know, of course, that he does not mean that we should postpone this until old age. Rather, he is calling to our attention the fact that this is the objective of our molding of a character in relation to the body oneness. “Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, sympathetic, courteous.” He continues in I Peter 3:9, “not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing, knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”

Notice here that the apostle makes reference in verse 8 to our being courteous. It would be a great mistake were we ever to conclude that courtesy is a deceitful manner of conduct. Some might suggest that frankness—saying it as it is, or as we see the matter, or as we think it is—is always the proper procedure. However, the apostle counsels us to manifest our most gracious manners in the brotherhood so that we might encourage one another, and remain ourselves in a position to receive encouragement from others. To conclude that it is wrong to be courteous in matters where differences or misunderstandings exist indicates that in our hearts we have judged our brethren, and have assumed that they are hiding what we may judge to be their real sentiments.

Some have suggested that it is deceitful to conceal or hide our feelings or our thoughts or our conclusions about brethren when we are unfavorably disposed toward them. And how many times have we later learned of our erroneous conclusions, and having restrained our words and actions, are most thankful we have only our own conclusions to correct and to seek forgiveness for, and have not also the responsibility for the effect such wrong words might have had on those with whom we shared our false conclusions!

We can think of no occasion when we may rightfully be discourteous to our brethren. We may think we have to over criticize a brother’s conviction. But seldom does the Lord permit that there is no other way to accomplish correction or improvement. We suggest that the Lord does not require us to act outside of the bounds of love to correct another, or bring mistakes to his attention.

How is the matter to be taken care of, then? First let us consider, Is the Lord doing anything about it? And if, so far as we can see, the Lord may not be doing anything about a matter we seem to think is of so great importance, the next question might be, Do we think the Lord could do something about it? Of course the answer is obvious. Let us keep in mind that the Lord has unnumbered agencies and avenues open, through which he can overrule and accomplish all the testing, all the perfecting, all the correcting of his people that he sees to be needed, without our acting beyond the bounds of love.

Sincere courtesy should be felt and expressed. It may appear to be unattainable, but in our relationship with one another there never is need for friction or strained feelings. Love should be without partiality, and this means that we should treat all the brethren with the same consideration. We should be patient toward all, kind toward all, courteous toward all, solicitous toward all as to their well-being; anxious to greet all with the same cordiality; anxious to assist all. It is expected that there will be different manifestations, even as there was with Jesus in his manifestations toward the apostles. But the basic appreciation of one another should be the same.

In Matthew 18:16 Jesus gave some good advice in connection with our in-the-body relationships. The fact that conflicts existed is apparent from Matthew 18:15. It is quite possible that Jesus saw some differences, which led to this counsel: “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou shalt have gained thy brother.” We recognize, in our association with our brethren, that our very differences do contribute to the creation of misunderstandings, difficulties, and sometimes even to animosities. Jesus apparently knew that this was then true, and would be true in the future, for he gave this far-too-seldom-used advice. But what kind of advice is this? What kind of formula is it? It is not a device which Jesus suggested to assure victory of one over the other in a dispute. It is, rather, a method to restore conditions of brotherly love, and that will be the result when the procedure is properly used, and a victory is gained over our own self, with a vow to serve with greater diligence.

We believe that love also has an important function in the matter of evil communications. How do we feel when someone confides secret information to us about another’s faults or mistakes? Do we feel appreciative when we have received “privileged” information? Do we feel warm and tenderhearted toward the informant? Do we feel grateful for inclusion in “the inner circle”? For, in substance, that is where we now are.

There is really no cause for gratitude, for in us has been planted a seed of corruption—a seed which will surely corrupt unless identified as to its true nature, and rooted out. Indeed, to be selected as the recipient of this kind of “privileged” information is uncomplimentary. The conclusion has been reached that we feel more sympathetic toward the informant than we do toward those discussed; and we have now been counted as an ally.

Have we ever stopped someone from further speaking to us about another’s attitudes or shortcomings or wrong-doings? It is an interesting experience. It is well if we can control and stop our own interest in such things, and help others to control theirs. Such a termination of the conversation will constitute the mildest form of rebuke to our communicant. This will seldom improve immediate attitudes, though it will doubtless give pause to one who might think in the future to count upon our willingness to listen.

This, too, would be an example of love in action, for it means love for the Word of the Lord, love for its principles, and less love for self. And when any one of us has come to the point where he prefers not to hear ill even about those with whom he differs, there may be an opportunity for us for future service in the kingdom.

—Contributed

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