no room

i have a special love for the books of the Bible that John wrote. his poetic, artistic style of prose simply makes me happy.

back in august i told you about an assignment i'd given myself to write out parts of the Bible in an effort to better understand and live out what i believe. this past week i have been writing out the second chapter of 1 John.

1 John 2: 9-11 says,

those who claim to be in the light but hate a fellow believer are still in the darkness. those who love their fellow believers live in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. but those who hate a fellow believer are in the darkness and walk around in the darkness; they do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

now, i'm not much for math, but this equation seems pretty simple...

love fellow believers = light = no stumbling

hate fellow believers = darkness = blindness, disorientation, stumbling

according to John there are two possible responses to other Christians: love or hate. there is no room here for merely tolerating people. no middle ground to compensate for personalities that may clash with mine, those who have hurt me or people close to me, those i would rather simply go somewhere else. apparently it is all or nothing.

the decision is mine. do i stumble around in the darkness, or will i walk in the light?

as a person who is hopelessly clumsy on the best and brightest of days, there is only one option...