THE MONTGOMERY BAPTIST

Serving Christ Through Montgomery Area Churches

KEN MAY, DIRECTOR OF MISSIONS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2015

What Kind of Love Is This?

UPCOMING EVENTS

Ken May | Director of Missions

MBA Pinewood Derby

hat is the month of February noted for? In addition to the federal

holiday, Presidents Day, it is most noted for Valentines Day, a
day purported to be about love. If I had a dollar for every time
someone has asked the question, What is love? I would be a
very rich man. Here is my take on love.

Thorington Road Baptist Church

February 22 | 2 - 4 PM
Registration begins at 1:30 PM
For more information, contact Pete Cutcliffe at
233-7489 or Grant Jones at 201-6080.

Christians who read and study their Bibles know that it speaks
specifically of three types of love in the Greek language: eros - the erotic love
Ken May
Director of Missions
of romance and personal satisfaction; phileo - the love of a man to his fellow
Montgomery Baptist Association
man as to a brother; and agape - the selfless love God demonstrated to us in
sending Jesus Christ. When Jesus asked Simon Peter, Do you love me? in John 21, he used
agape the first two times, but Peter answered, Yes, I phileo you. When Jesus asked the third
time, He used the word phileo and Peter responded as he had the first two times using the word
phileo. It seems obvious to me and probably to you that Jesus would prefer we love Him
and people in our world with AGAPE love, selfless love, because that is the kind of love
Jesus demonstrated towards us.
My question for your reflection today is, Do you love people for who they are as
creations of God, or do you love them for what they can do for you? I dare say most of us spend
time with people when we believe that time might benefit us or our church. This is evidenced by
the comments of many who have said, We invited them to our church, but they did not come.
In other words, we were looking for what they could do for us fill a space in our Sunday School
class or worship center.
Now, it is okay to let people do things for us. We dont need to be so proud that no one
can offer us anything. Jesus allowed the woman at the well to give him water. In that
conversation, he took time to listen and offer her the genuine love and acceptance she had
struggled so hard to achieve. He gave it freely. She became a missionary to her own town
because of the selfless love of Jesus, saying, Come see a man who told me all I ever did. Can
this be the Messiah? We certainly need to acknowledge that we can learn from unbelievers
and the unchurched in our world.

Early Bird VBS Clinic

Taylor Road Baptist Church
6:30 - 8:30 PM
Register by calling the
MBA Office at 271-6227.

Please understand me. I am not telling

you to stop inviting people to church. I am
saying that if our engagement with them ends
with our request, then we are focusing on US
and not THEM. We are not exhibiting the
selfless love of Christ. However, if I ask, How
may I pray for you? I am shifting the focus of
our conversation from me and what I want to the
individual and what they may need. If I follow
up that question with active concern for the
wellbeing of this person, whether they darken
the door of my church or not, I am exhibiting my
love and the love of Jesus for them. I believe if we truly love people with the love of Jesus,
they will eventually respond to His love.
It will take this Jesus kind of love to make a difference in our challenging world. People
long for meaningful and caring relationships. They do not long for meetings and classrooms and
such. They will respond to individuals who are willing to invest in them. Are you willing to
become one who loves people for who they are and for what they can become in Christ? That is
what it takes to make a difference in our world.
The Montgomery Baptist Association 20 Interstate Park Montgomery, Alabama 36109 334-271-6227 www.mgmbaptist.org
This publication is made possible by your churches contributions to Associational Missions.