Do You Love Me?

At first glance this may be a weird question to answer, some of you may know me or know of me, but your first inclination probably wouldn’t be to say that you love me. But when this question comes from the mouth of Jesus our response is bound to change.

In John’s gospel chapter 21, we encounter an interaction between Jesus and his disciple Peter in which Jesus asks him “Do you love me?” Peter immediately responds, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus responds to this by saying “Feed my lambs.” This exchange repeats two more times, as Jesus is responding to Peters denial of him two chapters before.

I believe this question that Jesus asks still stands for us to answer, “Do you love me?”. Are you in love with Jesus? Many of us will answer with an easy “yes” as if it’s second nature to respond in such a way, but are we willing to do what loving Jesus requires of us? Love requires action, Jesus does not simply stop with asking “Do you love me?”, he goes further asking us to “Feed my lambs.” The love of Jesus is not stagnate, it does not reside in one person or one place, rather it is ever moving, and it compels us to act.

James K.A. Smith in his book “You Are What You Love” writes “our wants and longings and desires are at the core of our identity, the wellspring from which our actions and behavior flow.” If we say that we love Jesus, and deeply desire for his love to be spread do our actions align? Is our love for Jesus at the “core of our identity,” and if so what is welling up from that love?  This campus, this city, and the people we interact with on a daily basis need people who are willing to step out and say not only do “I love Jesus,” but also “I am willing to feed his sheep.”