Forever Changed 5

Week 5 (Mar 17): John

Could it be youthful bravado or maybe indiscretion? One thing is certain, the disciple John that we read about in the gospels is vastly different than the apostle that crafts the Gospel of John. That is not to say that the person is different, but rather that John’s life was Forever Changed by his encounters with Jesus.

John’s earliest recorded moments found him rebuking others for casting out demons, offering to call down fire from heaven to consume an entire village, and pressing Jesus for a seat of honor. Each of these moments is less than a glowing report on a disciple’s record. These earliest reports are countered heavily by his late-in-life writings. We find that the disciple who threatened mass burning would eventually pen the words in 1 John 3:18 (NRSV), “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” John’s transformation was lifelong and as a result, he left the church with an incredible body of writings that will forever shape the way we balance truth and love.

Have you ever encountered someone who was all truth with no love? Have you ever tried to reason with someone who was all love with no truth? In what ways has society twisted or abandoned one or both of these two principles that John worked so hard to establish as foundational in the life of a believer?