Wisdom Wednesday: Rich Mullins on Loving Like Jesus

I saw Rich Mullins several times in concert in the 1980s and 1990s: a few times in the Kansas City area, once in Manhattan, KS, and once at a small show in Budapest, Hungary. I came away from all of his concerts wanting to know God more deeply and follow Christ more fully. I also came away with a sense that Rich’s heart was aligned with God’s heart in important ways. He challenged how I thought, and he challenged what I wanted. I grieved when he died in a car accident in 1997, and I still lament the loss of what he might have done musically if he had lived.

Consider these comments Rich made in a 1997 concert about how too many Christians in America approach their faith:

Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.

I’ve become more and more convinced that as many American Christians take an unhealthy culture war posture not only towards issues, but towards people, we are missing out on ways to love others in our midst. This is what Rich is speaking to, in a prophetic way.

I think of the committed Christian friend of ours who has befriended a trans woman, demonstrating the gracious love of Christ in simple friendship and care. I think of another friend who has sacrificed his short and long-term financial welfare, losing many “friends” due to some changes in his theological and political views, changes motivated in part by his own love for the poor and broken. I think of a family in Kansas City who live far below the standard of living they can afford so that they can give generously to their church and missions work. And I think of the gay college student who is no longer welcome at his home over the holidays, because his Christian parents want little to nothing to do with him.

And I think of myself. In what ways am I trying to build my own “secure little niche” in America, where I can be untroubled by the poor, the broken, and the outcast? A good question for all of us to ask, who have the means and the freedom to build our little niche.

Why?

Because Jesus shows us a different path. He calls us to a different Way. It will be costly. But in a deeper sense, if what he said is true, it is less costly than any other way (Matt. 11:28-30).