“If you love me, keep my commands.” “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:15,21,23-24 NASB1995)

There is a popular meme on Facebook that says, “I’d rather attend church with messed up people who love God, than religious people who dislike messed up people.” So, what is this really saying? Who are the “messed up people” being spoken of here? Well, if we define “mess,” it means “chaos, confusion, disorder, disarray, disaster.” And if we define “messed up,” it means “failed, spoiled, ruined, futile, to miss the mark (sin).” So this would seem to indicate this is talking about people still living in sin against God.

And what is church? Biblically speaking, the church is the body of Christ, the universal body of believers in Jesus Christ who have trusted him to be Lord and Savior of their lives. It is all those who have, by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as servants of God and of his righteousness, in walks of obedience to his commands. We are not perfect people, but sin should not be our practice.

So, the gatherings of the church are intended to be gatherings of born again believers in Christ Jesus who have died with him to sin and who are now living for God in walks of obedience to his commands, by faith in Jesus Christ, and in the power of God. And the purpose of our gatherings is to be for mutual encouragement and exhortation to help one another to grow to maturity in Christ. And so we each have been given spiritual gifts from God to use for his glory and for the encouragement of one another of faith.

Now, this does not mean that non-believers are not welcome in our gatherings, but that the intended purpose of our gatherings is to help one another to walk worthy of God in obedience to his commands in holy living. And it is to warn against lies and liars and false teachings which are leading many people astray. And it is to warn against having this mindset that we can now live however we want. For church is not to be about catering to those who are willfully living in sin. It is to help each other to obey our Lord.

And then the meme suggests that these “messed up people” are those who love God. But that is contrary to what the Scriptures teach. For they teach that if we love God we will obey him, in practice, and sin will not be what we practice. But if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, then we do not love God. And this is not saying that we will never sin (1 John 2:1-2), but that sin must not be our habit, but obedience to our Lord’s commands is what should be our practice. And that is what shows who loves God.

And when this says, “religious people who dislike messed up people,” that can mean many things. Are there religious people who mistreat the ungodly? Surely, there are. There are religious people who mistreat the godly, as well. But are we to ignore sin in others? No! If they don’t know Jesus, we should share with them the message of the gospel. And telling them that God requires death to sin and obedience to God is not disliking anyone. That is an act of love to tell people the truth, knowing they might misjudge you.

We see a lot of these kinds of memes on the internet, and on social media, which I believe are fully intended to try to make the godly, who love God, and who obey him in practice, out to be scoundrels who hate the ungodly. And they try to promote the acceptance of sinful practices in the lives of those within the gatherings of the church as a noble and kind thing to do. But that is not kind at all. For if we intentionally do not speak the truth in love to the ungodly, showing them the way to salvation, that is not love.

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

In Harmony

Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17
An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Love each other truly.
Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is evil.
Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with fervor.
Joyful in hope be;
Patient in affliction;
Praying faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people
Who are found in need.
Do not be conceited.
Sympathetic be.
Love, and show compassion
In humility.
Keep your tongue from evil.
Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;
Listens to their prayers.
But He’s against evil –
Is His to avenge.
Do not fear what they fear.
Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make Christ Lord.
Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

If You Love Jesus
An Original Work / December 29, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love