The King's Own
by
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I do not know that any of you have the difficulty which I have, and which I have noticed in many others. But for myself and these others, I find it is often very difficult to get along with certain of my brethren and sisters, members of the church of Christ, because they have traits of character that displease me. One of them, perhaps, is very enthusiastic, and I think he is extremely unwise in his enthusiasm. Another is too slow in thought and action to please my fancy. Still another is too much filled with business affairs, and in my opinion is lacking in spirituality. Now to me the temptation often comes to criticize such and such a one because of these things that seem to me defects. If they were all just like me (with, of course, a few small corrections), we should without doubt have a very perfect church. If they would just straighten up and be decent and proper and good, why, we should have no trouble at all in the church; but so long as they go on in the way they do, I cannot see how anybody can love them or respect them or be proud of them or count them as Christians. I am sorely tempted to disfellowship them, in my thought, and to turn my back upon them.
Now I say, you may not have any such difficulty; but it is very evident that the twelve apostles did, and that Jesus had to meet that difficulty in them and to teach them how to get rid of it. It was for this very purpose that He put forth the law of the kingdom: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." He gave that law to them; He gives it also to us.
This is no common love that Jesus required of them, and requires of us. A very weak and very common love is sufficient for some acquaintances. We say of a certain man, "Why, he is such a noble character you can't help admiring him. I love that man." Or you say of a certain woman, "Oh, she is such a lovable character. Every one who knows her thinks she is so wonderful. I can't help loving her." Oh yes, that's very easy. But the love of Jesus goes further than that. His is a love that conquers unlovely things. Take those twelve apostles, for example. They were men of greatly varying characters. They were as diverse, I suppose, as any twelve men you could get together.
There was John, for instance, and James his brother, men so hot-tempered and passionate that Jesus called them Boanerges, the sons of thunder. They were ardent in their friendships, but swift and vindictive in their hates. One time they proposed to call down fire from heaven upon a village of Samaritans because its people would not take them in for a night's lodging. And Jesus rebuked them. They had other faults too; they were proud, autocratic, self-serving. Yet Jesus, though He had to discipline them, kept close to them by His love; and through that love they came finally to a transformation of character which made them men of a truly different stamp,—so different that whenever we think of John, for instance, it is not as a proud, fiery character, but as a gentle, reflective, and loyal, though still ardent, man,—"the disciple whom Jesus loved."
There was Peter, headlong, impulsive, eager, and ready to act before he had time to reflect. Jesus had often to rebuke him, sometimes to take swift action to remedy the trouble Peter brought upon them all. But never did He give Peter up. He bore with him, correcting him, praising him, checking him, urging him on, as need might be. And in the great crisis of his life He saved Peter. When that erratic follower, fearing for his life, had denied with cursing and swearing that he even knew his Master, Jesus turned and looked upon Peter. Was it a look of scorn for one so weak, so recreant, so base? No. If it had been, there would have been another suicide that night. Peter would have joined Judas. But the look that Jesus bent upon His erring disciple was a look of pitying love. That love pierced to Peter's heart, it changed his nature, it drew him back to God. He went out and wept, bitterly repenting. Satan had desired him, that he might sift him as wheat; but Jesus prayed for him, He loved him, and He saved him.
So it was with all the disciples. Despite their defects and faults and their unlovely traits of character, Jesus loved them with a a love unfaltering, unfailing, never-ending. "Having loved His own, . .. He loved them unto the end." That is the love which Christ asks you and me to have for our fellow disciples. We are not to expect perfection in the beginning in every one of our brethren. They, as we ourselves, are faulty; that is why they, and we, need Christ. But if Christ receives them, acknowledges them as His own, bears with them, loves them, so also it is His commandment that we receive and love them.
The church of Christ is the Israel of God. Citizenship in the kingdom of God is determined, not by genealogy, but by character. "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed." Galatians 3:29. "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; . . . but he is a Jew which is one inwardly." Romans 2:28, 29.
Israel was divided into twelve tribes. That tribal division will continue in the redeemed state, the kingdom of glory. (Revelation 7:2-4.) It may well be thought, then, that in the register of heaven the church of Christ has, even now in this kingdom of grace, the twelvefold division of the tribes of Israel. We would naturally suppose admission to those tribes to be upon the same basis as admission to the church, or nation, of Israel; namely, the basis of individual character.
Now it is an interesting fact that the characters of the twelve tribes are outlined in the Bible in two places. The first of these is in Genesis 49, where Jacob, under the influence of the Spirit of God, told his sons their characters; the second is in Deuteronomy 33, where Moses, under the same Inspiration, portrayed the characters of the tribes.
The study of these tribal characteristics gives us an insight into the characters, not only of those ancient members of the kingdom, but of the present members of the church, our friends and ourselves. We shall find that they are not altogether good. Good traits are mentioned, but evil traits are also named. There were always found, and there always will be to the end of time, good and bad in the church of Christ. To begin with, no one is wholly bad nor wholly good. It is the work of the church and of every member of the church to help every other member to increase in goodness and to decrease in badness. The only way in which that can be done is by following the "new commandment" that Jesus gave, "That ye love one another; as I have loved you."
We cannot improve any faulty character by finding fault with it, but we can improve it by giving loving service. We can never criticize anyone into heaven, but we can love one into heaven. It is by love, and not by faultfinding, that Jesus wins. The same means must be used by His disciples to win and upbuild others. In this we may be greatly aided by the analysis of character and the application of the prime law of love in the studies that follow.
(To be continued)