Doves On Distant Oaks

The Philosophy of Linus

At one point in Jesus' ministry, the Pharisees came before him and challenged Him with questions, hoping to trip Him up. One pressed Him on which of the commandments was the greatest, testing not so much his knowledge, but his judgment. Jesus showed these religious leaders that the entire Law and the writings of the prophets could be summed up in a few simple sentences:

Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said to him, "'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." (Matthew 22:345-40)

It’s not as difficult for us to love God. After all, he first loved us, though we have a poor way of showing our love for Him sometimes. However, it’s the second part that seems to confound us the most. We may grasp that concept in the abstract, but we struggle to do that when it comes to specifics.

Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts cartoon, captured this perfectly in a strip published in 1959.

Copyright Charles M. Schulz, 12 November 1959

For those who can’t access the cartoon, it begins with the ubiquitous Lucy telling Linus, "You, a doctor! Ha! That's a big laugh! You could never be a doctor! You know why? Because you don't love mankind, that's why!" To which Linus replies, "I love mankind … it's people I can't stand!!"

I think, perhaps, we can all relate to Linus. We say we love mankind, but when it comes to those pesky people in our lives, loving them gets a whole lot more difficult. I think we all know individuals that we know who can be irritating, irksome, and downright disagreeable. Too often they even have opinions that differ seriously from our own that we’d like to silence. Should that keep us from engaging with them, and even harder … loving them?

Jesus said unequivocally No! In fact, they should be loved to an even greater degree than those who love us.

We have to consider, as well, that our statement of love for all mankind is a cover for our inability to connect with people at the personal level. It holds people at arms-length, all the while declaring how much we love them as part of mankind. It's easy to love mankind in the abstract because it can't hurt us. Only individual people can.

But Jesus wants us to move past those fears. To him, individuals are far too important for us to back away, regardless of what they think or say. He set the example for us, and we should mimic his unselfish love. He lowered himself to wash the feet of his disciples and expects the same of us. When we can lower ourself before every person in our lives, enough to say we would wash their feet, then we are following the teaching or our greatest instructor.

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.

–- Philippians 2:3-5

Keywords: Humility, Mankind, Neighbor, Unselfishness

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