I enjoy those, “They had one job” memes a little more than I should. The misspelled words, the literal photo drive on the cake instead of the photo, the toilet stalls that were installed too high for privacy… Some of those will draw a pretty good laugh. And yet, I become sober when I think of what God must wish to utter to the Christian. I can imagine him sitting in Heaven, looking down on us with disdain.

“You had one job,” he says, shaking his head and perhaps crying a few tears. “I sent my Son. He carried the burden of your sin, and you had one job.”

And we’re failing miserably.

What is that one job, you might ask? After all, the Bible does have several commands, and all of them go along with that one job. It’s easy enough to find in Scripture. In Matthew 22, the lawyer asks Jesus a question, testing him. He asks,

“What is the greatest commandment?”

Well, Jesus gives him two answers, but truly, they can be summarized in one word: love.

In verses 37-40, Jesus says,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Ask yourself, right now, how many of the ills of this world could be solved with simple, unadulterated love? Even the Beatles understood this, right? Love is all we need.

If we love, truly love, then we can step aside from our own wants and wishes to make life better for another person. Obedience comes second nature when you have love for your parents or authority. You want to please them and make them happy. Kindness becomes involuntary. Patience and compassion, a must.

The Dalai Lama once said,

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”

Do we not see the daily evidence of this?  And how can we expect the world to know love if we don’t show it ourselves? Just as the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 needed help to understand what he was reading, sinners need the help of Christians to understand love. Stop making excuses for why you can’t, or why you can be justified to withhold your love. Show it, don’t just tell it, every day of your life.

The Bible is clear. You cannot love God and hate your brother. So, if you’re out there spewing hatred for this person or that person, this political candidate or that one, this colleague or that one, this police officer or that criminal… I’m sorry. You don’t love God. It’s Biblical.

If you aren’t following the great commission and trying to lead others to the peace that surpasses all understanding, then you do not love your neighbors. It’s Biblical.

Christians, you have just one job. To love, truly love, the way Christ loves.