But let’s try parsing it into logical thought, anyway, since we’re already here. The reasoning of this section begins with an assertion: any person who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been “born from God”, or to use a more familiar term, is a child of God.[2] Hopefully, we can all agree that this isn’t an especially controversial position to take when you’re specifically addressing the Christian community (as this epistle is). Next, the writer observes that if you love someone who’s a parent, your love also generally extends to their children, for the sake of their parent. Between these first two statements, there lies an unspoken conclusion: anyone who loves God (the parent) must then also love those who believe that Jesus is the Christ (the child).
This probably doesn’t strike you as an especially wild standard for Christians to be held to…but remember that this isn’t just referring to the particular Christians who worship with you on Sunday morning, or the Christians who belong to the same Facebook groups as you, or the Christians who vote the same way you do. Scripture is irritatingly clear here: EVERYONE who believes that Jesus is the Christ HAS been born from God - even if they don’t agree with you about how that means they should think or act. Even if their understanding of Christianity directly conflicts with yours. If we claim to love God, then we need to love them, too, for God’s sake. Yikes, right? Not quite so easy. And we’re still only on the first verse!
Before we go any further, I want to clarify something. Loving someone does NOT mean ignoring the harm that they may do. As clear as Scripture is here that we need to love our siblings in Christ without exception, other parts of scripture are equally clear that we need to stand for justice and mercy. These two imperatives are not mutually exclusive. Loving a fellow Christian does not mean giving destructive theology a pass. What it DOES mean is that we cannot make our theological differences the basis of our relationship with one another. And that means that while we can (and must!) draw boundaries for our own physical and mental health, we cannot dismiss those with whom we disagree out of hand. Whether we like it or not, we’re still bound by the love of God that we share. And we need to act that way.
So, then the question becomes, “How do we know that we’re loving God’s children the way we’re supposed to?” Like, not just in a performative, “love the sinner, not the sin” kind of way, but the same way we love God? Verse 2 gives us the answer, and then verse 3 reiterates it: we keep God’s commandments. That’s what it means to love God, and since God gave the commandments for the benefit of humanity, that’s how we show our love God’s children, too. Before we make the mistake of thinking that the writer of this epistle is referring to a legalistic application of Leviticus here, notice that in the last verse of chapter 4 – just three verses prior to this – he clarifies that “THIS [is the] commandment that we have from [God]: those who claim to love God ought to love their brother and sister also.” Context is important! Loving God, loving each other, keeping God’s commandments: these aren’t separate obligations for Christians; they’re all connected.
Now, although we’ve already established that this is a pretty big ask (especially given the current state of USAmerican Christianity) the tail end of verse 3 insists that it’s actually NOT difficult to keep God’s commandments – meaning, by extension, that it’s not actually difficult to love God’s children. Fortunately for us, verse 4 explains this bold assertion, but the explanation turns out to be pretty mind-blowing. It’s easy to love our siblings in Christ, the argument goes, because EVERYONE who’s been born from God – even “those people” – have the capacity to defeat that which stands between us and God’s kindom. They’re assets in our mission! They’re on our team!
But Christians don’t gain this ability from any of the things that divide us from one another – our perceived authority, our righteousness, our rightness. No, we all have the capacity to bring about the kindom of God because of the one beautiful thing that we all have in common in spite of ourselves: our shared faith. We don’t have to come out on top as the “true” Christians in order to bring the kindom of God into the world. What we need is to work together, relying on our common faith and shared love for our heavenly parent to keep us connected.
Which brings us to the conclusion of the passage. “Who defeats the world? Isn’t it the one who believes that Jesus is God’s son?” So, the person able to overcome this world is one who believes that Jesus is related to God in a unique way…wait a minute, this sounds familiar…Oh, right; it’s essentially taking us right back to the same place that this passage started! The apparent circularity of this passage reminds me of that road trip standard, “The Song that Doesn’t End”. You all know it: “This is the song that doesn’t end/Yes, it goes on and on, my friend/Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was/And they’ll continue singing it forever, just because/This is the song that doesn’t end…”
This song is notorious for its capacity to annoy anyone within hearing range – which makes it an especially apt comparison with this passage. Not only does this section’s logic seem to flow in a loop (just like the song), but its message is IRRITATING. It’s telling us BOTH that we have to love our siblings in Christ (even if they’re otherwise completely different from us) AND, by virtue of its circular nature, it’s telling us that we have to KEEP DOING IT if we want the kindom of God to triumph over this world through our faith. Even if we admit, as verse 3 suggests, that this commandment to love our siblings in faith isn’t necessarily difficult to understand, we can certainly also admit that it’s super annoying for us to have to do it even once, let alone having to do it over and over again.
So there you have it; the gospel distilled into the most irritating form possible.
But there’s still more to learn from this passage than just that all Christians need to work together to bring about God’s kindom (even when we annoy each other). The reasoning in these five verses, combined with the fact that it seems to operate in an endless loop, reminds us that love, faith, and obedience are intimately connected, rather than isolated aspects of a Christian life (as we sometimes assume). We cannot claim to love God if we refuse to be obedient to God’s commandment to love our siblings in Christ; we cannot claim to be obedient if we’re unwilling to focus our kindom work on the faith that we share; we cannot claim to be people of faith if we don’t love our siblings in Christ. All of these things are endlessly intertwined in an ongoing task that doesn’t end until the kindom of God arrives in full.
Once it does, then all the designations we currently cling to so tightly – Christian and non-Christian, Democrat and Republican, male and female, USAmerican and immigrant – those will no longer matter, not because we’ll be a homogeneous society, but because it will be impossible for us not to love one another, despite any and all differences. Our faith and our obedience and, yes, our love will all flow together perfectly like harmonies in a song…one that doesn’t end. And by then, it won’t be irritating anymore – it will be wonderful.
And all of this starts with our love of God. We start there, and that draws us into the endless cycle described in this scripture passage – not only working towards God’s kindom but practicing for it. The faithful thing to do is to engage with the cycle, no matter how irritating it gets, and to trust that even when it gets difficult (as it inevitably will), God’s love for us will keep moving us forward. There’ll be times that we aren’t successful in following all the interconnected steps that the cycle demands – and that’s okay. The important part is for us to recognize it, to humbly repent, and to jump back into the cycle as soon as we can. If enough of us keep doing this, if enough of us put up with our frustration and the never-ending call to work together, then one day, quite unexpectedly, we’ll find that our repeated efforts to love our siblings in Christ has become a habit, and it will somehow be a far less annoying task than it once seemed.
By then, the gospel’s tune will have changed from an irritating earworm to a comforting melody that we find ourselves humming to get us through the day. Because it’s a reminder that, just like the song itself, God’s love for us doesn’t end. So, in response to this divine love, let us always seek to act in faith, obedience, and love for one another. It may feel incredibly annoying right now – maybe even impossible – but engaging this cycle is exactly what will bring God’s kindom to this world. Despite our differences, let’s trust in Christ’s ultimate ability to turn our faithful love for one another into permanent reconciliation. So, let’s start singing. Amen.
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[1] New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, vol. X, p. 854. (section by C. Clifton Black)
[2] For those uncomfortable with the apparent Christocentrism of this initial assertion: 1 John is talking about a specific group of people in a specific context, not making a generalizing statement. Although this passage is talking about those who are “born from God” through their faith in Jesus Christ, it doesn’t mean that this is the ONLY way to be a child of God.
[1] New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, vol. X, p. 854. (section by C. Clifton Black)
[2] For those uncomfortable with the apparent Christocentrism of this initial assertion: 1 John is talking about a specific group of people in a specific context, not making a generalizing statement. Although this passage is talking about those who are “born from God” through their faith in Jesus Christ, it doesn’t mean that this is the ONLY way to be a child of God.
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