John was an old man. He’d seen decades’ worth of Christians figuring out what it means to be Christians, the complex issues faced by the early church, disputes about beliefs and practices, persecutions of varying intensity, and a world full of temptations to give in or give up.
And in his old age, sharing words of wisdom with the next generation of believers — they would become the first generation to live without access to any eyewitnesses of Jesus’ ministry — his teaching boiled down to a few simple statements:
Walk in love. Walk in the light. If you’re walking in the light, you’ll walk in love — and vice versa. Know the extravagant love of God for yourself and then go out and love each other with it. That’s how you live in relationship with God and overcome the world.1
I get it. I’m not an old man yet — 60 is the new 40, haven’t you heard? — but the more I see of complex issues, contentious people, polarizing beliefs and practices, and layers and layers of theological nuance, the more I lean back toward the basics: Receive God’s love and embody it.
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