While reading through Philippians the other day I came across a phrase Paul used when speaking about how he felt toward the brothers and sisters there. He said he longed for them with the affection of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:8). Affection is kind of a weird word and it made me wonder – Paul must be talking about the love of Christ, right? Why not just say that? I figured if I explored a little bit, this might have something to say about how to love like Jesus. So, I did a little digging.
I wasn’t quite ready for the intensity. The concept was a box I hadn’t really touched since high school some thirty-plus years ago. At the time, my wrestling with the terms had more to do with navigating my personal relationships and being an adolescent….
You see, I wrote lots of letters to lots of friends from Christian summer camp. That’s right, actual paper, envelopes, and stamps. Anyway, I judged “sincerely” as a completely uncool way to end a letter. So, with guys I could write, “Love you man,” and that was all understood – they were your bros or whatever we call them these days. “Love you girl,” besides being condescending, could lead to all sorts of misunderstanding so…. “Love in Christ.” That put a little distance there while still reaching out. That was safe….
Except it’s not. And if we haven’t thought about this since high school, perhaps it’s high time we did since this is what Jesus expects of us in our relationships with our brothers and sisters. Because it gets real deep, real quick. Cross. Think cross. “Demonstrating His own love for us in this – while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Do we get it? I’m not sure – because this “affection” word is still out there and it’s still a little pastel for me.
The true color – are we ready for it? “I long for all of you in the guts of Christ.” Yeah. That’s it. That’s how Paul put it, that’s what the Philippians heard. Visceral. The word “love” is not used. We find that elsewhere. But this surely communicates something about the depth of feeling Paul had. It isn’t safe. It doesn’t stand at a distance from Christ and observe His children standing around the cross from the outside. Rather, it crawls inside and becomes one with Him as we are transformed into His likeness, longing for relationship. A gutsy love. Imagine what our churches will look like when we get it….