Love before Obedience

"And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices." Mark 12:33

At Camp Daniel, a camp for mentally and physically disabled children and adults, God put on my heart that we (the Church) spend too much time preaching to children and youth about obedience. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of obedience because Jesus did say,"If you love me, you will keep my commandments," in John 14. However, I began to wonder if we preach too much obedience and not enough love to young people.

Which comes first in the Christian life: love or obedience. I think if one reads the New Testament, they would have to admit - Love. What did Jesus spend time talking about - following the ten commandments or love? He knew that the obedience would follow, after one loved Jesus, as Jesus loved him.

Many of these campers at Camp Daniel are babies in Christ. Some have not come to Christ yet. They appear to me to have the purest of thoughts that a person can have. They are not plotting how they can have more attention or fun at another's expense. They are open to love. Their worship time is pure and loud and happy. They sing with enthusiasm to Jesus. They open their prayers with " thank you Jesus for being there for me." 

I thought about how we lose so many of our youth to the world as they enter college. I wonder if all they saw of the church was a set of rules. That some of them think that church is just a way for parents to coerce their teens to not drink, not smoke, not to engage in premarital sex. I thought of the oft repeated,"show me your friends and I'll show you your future." Is that Biblical? Sounds judgemental and not in a good way. It sounds like - if you follow all of these rules, including having the correct "friends'", you will fit into our little club and we will accept you. That little saying does not give any credit to the Love of Christ who loves His children. No credit to the process of sanctification of a new believer which takes many years. 

How about if we radiated love? If we taught how Jesus loves you in your sinful state. That He wants to transform you. That you come to Christ all dirty and yucky like we did. That through Jesus' love of us, we first love Jesus, then we can then work on obedience. We can learn what obedience looks like. That obedience actually looks alot like love - not obeying each and every commandment. That obedience is service and sacrifice not simply avoiding alcohol and cigarettes and premarital sex. No one can be obedient without loving Christ. Without Christ, obedience is just a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.