A Command to Love: The Mirror Paradox

Jesus said to his disciples in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." On the surface, this is a statement that most followers of Christ subscribe to — but practically speaking, as the lyrics of one of my favorite songs from Kirk Franklin (Love) inquires, "what does it really mean to love?" This question has wrestled me to sleep many nights; and it has brought me to pause during the day when I consider the practical implications of this passage.

To shed light on this mental frustration, please consider the following: If you want someone to "laugh," you would not command them to "laugh"; rather, you would tell them a joke. In the same way that genuine laughter cannot be commanded, how is it that genuine "love" could be commanded? Did the incarnate Word of God give us a commandment that we were unable to comply with? — well that would be unjust. Scientific research even suggests that there are limits to the number of individuals with whom we could have a legitimate intimate connection. But what if the commandment to love wasn't rooted in emotional connection alone? What if our capacity to carry out this commandment to love was somehow connected to how we perceived the recipient of that love?

In the 25th chapter of Matthew, Jesus granted his disciples a sneak peek into the end times. Jesus describes a scene where all of humanity stands before a King and a conversation is occurring (see Mt 25:31–46). To those on the King's right side, he grants life eternal; but to those on his left, there appears to be some sort of misunderstanding. The King says in verses 42–44, "For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."

I can imagine the confusion of those on the left, because the Son of Man, whilst he walked with man on earth, performed a lot of miracles — yet he does not grade them on their ability to carry out signs and wonders. It appears that the righteous King is less interested in his subjects' ability to imitate His majesty and dominion over the elements, but was more concerned with them imitating his service towards His most prized creation, humanity. The zenith of their very palpable confusion is exhibited in their sincere inquiry, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?" Then the righteous King stated in verse 45, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

What a brilliant paradox — that the Great and Mighty Creator of the ends of the world would identify with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, and the incarcerated. After reflecting on this passage, it became abundantly clear to me that to carry out the commandment to Love, one not only needs compassion, but he also needs a mirror.

This love that the King demanded comes when we see God's creation as HE sees His creation and when we see each other as HE sees us. "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" said one of the Pharisees in Matthew 22:36. Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

John 1:18 states that "No man has seen God at any time." However, we interact with one another every single day. 1 John 4:20 poses a very important question. Paraphrased, it asks how can we say that we love God, whom we have not seen, and not each other, whom we often see? I believe that an important part of loving "thy neighbor as thyself" involves seeing yourself in your neighbor. Thus, to love one another requires that we each take hold of a mirror. We must see ourselves in each other — this is an important part of what it means to love. This is why that one True and Righteous King is able to assert in Mt 25:40, "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these...ye have done it unto me." The King sees Himself in the least — and so should we.

"Society is at its best when a person in power looks into the eyes of the least, and sees the same thing that God sees; Himself."

— Dr. Rushing

A Call to Action

The next time that you come across someone in need, I would encourage you to take out your mirror and consider that Great commandment to love one another. See yourself in them; Be kind to them; Help them; Repeat.

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Please stay tuned for Part 2 of this post. Until then please consider an important Call to Action: If you would like to showcase a person or an organization that has honored the Commandment to Love, then please let us know. We would love to hear from you! Subscribe at marcusrushingmd.com to discuss next steps on how we can celebrate this command to love. Let's stay connected.

— Marcus Rushing, MD