God So Loved the World . . . (And only he can).

Quite possibly the most well-known verse in the Christian Bible is John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that all who believe in him would not perish but have eternal life.”

But did you know that out of all the dozens of times the Bible commands us to love people, not a single one of those commands says to love the whole world? In fact, when Jesus says the bit about loving God and loving people being the foundation of all the Law and Prophets, he specifically says “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Now granted, in the parable about the good Samaritan, he gives the broadest possible definition to what defines a “neighbor”. He clearly is not saying that we should love only those who are geographically close to us. But the word choice does connote some type of proximity. I think he’s basically saying, “Love everyone that you can. Love everyone whom is in the radius of where your love can actually reach. Love your next door neighbor, the stranger you encounter in your travels, even the people on the other side of town whom you think are most unlike yourself, and even the people whom would consider you an enemy.”

This love is not geographically bound, but it is bound by the inherent limitations of being a finite person in a finite body with a finite amount of time and resources. And within that particular type of “proximity,” we are to love everyone, just as we would if they were our literal next door neighbor, or indeed, just as we would if they were our very selves.

But, “Love the world” is never commanded. How could we? Only God can hear the whole world. Only God can see the whole world. Only God can bear the burden and sins of the whole world. Because of the transformations wrought in our world by technology, sometimes we think we can see, hear, and know it all, but it is an illusion. And we will be unnecessarily paralyzed by such an illusion if we allow it to distract us from the more proximal mission that God has actually called us to. Loving our neighbor is what he commands, and it is enough. It is more than enough. It is hard, and it requires every ounce of effort we can muster.

Of course, none of what I’m saying should be taken as license to be apathetic about events happening around the globe. God does call us to support missions to all the various nations. And he does sometimes place a particular burden on our hearts to pray for, give aid to, and/or go to other places far from home. I am merely pointing out that we are often in the position of being exposed to more suffering and tragedy than we can even dream of alleviating. But when we feel like it’s too much, perhaps that is precisely when we should train our focus on what is not too much, then believe that God can leaven all of the dough with that little bit of yeast.