The Missing Core

September 29, 2009, 9:19 am by dc-agape.

John Chapter 15 – 16:4

In my last post I wrote about being fruitful and the meaning of love and obedience.  In this post I want to write about the greatest love, Jesus’ purpose, and being chosen.  I will have one final post on this chapter writing about hatred, hatred without reason, and killing in the name of YHWH.

This chapter is packed with good examples of what a follower of Jesus is supposed to do to the world, experience in the world, and display to the world.  But this chapter does one other thing…it makes it obvious to the non-believer that Christian ≠ follower of Jesus.  I will discuss each one, and let you decide.

Christians today its claim to not know YHWH’s purpose, but this should not be the case:

John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 

Jesus again describes one of his most important commands.  That command, we know is the second greatest command, is to love one another.  But in this description of the command to love one another Jesus adds a more stringent component.  “To love one another” means to be willing to sacrifice your life for the one you love.  It is very easy to say you’re willing; it is a completely different thing to actually mean it.   In the United States, and most likely most of Europe, the non-believer never gets to see this type of love.  Since Christianity is majority, or least accepted in these countries, there are few opportunities to lay down once alive for love.  Oddly, what the non-believer has been able to see, are people laying down their lives for equal rights, to save the environment, or to fight tyranny.  This type of love is not limited to Christianity; as a result, the non-believer sees no difference between a Christian and the non-Christian.

Now unless Jesus was only speaking about his Apostles, which seems odd, for even though this speech occurred at the Last Supper, is clear that everything Jesus said was about all his disciples.  So to claim “YHWH works in mysterious ways” or “no one knows YHWH’s plans” is actually saying that these people are not friends but are servants.  This would also indicate that these people, that say these things, are not part of the true vine…they have already been cut off.   If Jesus knows his Father’s business and his friends know Jesus’ business, Christians (who are friends of Jesus) should know YHWH’s business.  The fact that Christians do not know YHWH’s business proves that they are not followers of Jesus.

Once more Jesus brings up the topic of being chosen:

John 15:16 you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.  Then the Father will give you would ever you ask in my name.

Again, one can argue that this statement was only directed at the Twelve.   But that would be taking this out of context, for many other parts of this conversation relate to all disciples.  Even if you were to take this to only apply to those in the room, then there would be no more fruit after they died.  The fruit that lasts are those people who obey (love) Jesus and his teachings.  So once more, it is clear, that Jesus chooses who will be his disciples.  Freewill does not exist, because it is Jesus who controls who will love and obey him. 

To the non-believer, these three topics continue to prove that something is terribly wrong with Christianity today.  If there were any disciples of Jesus left on earth, we (the non-believer) would see these three things very clearly.  What we do not see is the love Jesus describes here in the Gospel of John and elsewhere, that Christians know (as friends) Jesus’ and YHWH’s business, or Christians recognizing that not everyone can be saved.  Christians in the U.S. claim that this is a Christian nation.  But we do not see the form of love that Jesus taught his disciples.  We also do not see Christians who understand and know YHWH’s business, in fact, it is the exact opposite – Christians have no clue what YHWH’s business/plans are.  Finally, the US Christians cannot or will not recognize that it is Jesus who chooses who will follow him.    It is odd to say, and I’m sure most people will disagree, but what Jesus said in this chapter of the Gospel of John is at the heart of being a disciple of Jesus.  Ignoring or rationalizing away the implications of this chapter only weakens the religion.  And a weaken religion does not fulfill the purpose of that religion; it is only a Tradition of Man.

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