Oreo Cookie Faith

This photo makes me thirsty for a glass of milk...

Oreo cookies are an American classic. The chocolate cookie wafer. The white cream in the middle. Full of sugar. Dunked in a glass of cold milk or parted to eat the middle first. Some like the cookie part best and others the cream part best, but either way, they're pretty yummy. 

When my son was little, he used to eat the white stuff and throw the cookie part away. I was horrified! You have to eat the whole cookie; otherwise, it's just not the same. 

This might be a stretch, but I was reflecting on Oreo cookies this week as I was thinking about the two greatest commandments: love God and love others. Sounds simple, and yet we have such an enormous difficulty doing both well. Some of us like the first one better, others the second, but truly - we need both. In order to love God well, we must love others well. And in order to love others well, we must love God well. You have to eat the whole cookie; otherwise, it's just not the same.

In my experience, there are four different kinds of churches.

The first kind of church is really good at loving God. They have many sacraments, or religious practices, all focused around Him. Worship is adoration to God. Prayer calls upon Him. Communion reminds them of God's presence. Fasting keeps them focused on God. They read Scripture every Sunday. They elevate personal purity and moral values. However, these churches are not as good at loving others. Their moral values and standards often make them judgmental to those who don't meet up to them. They tell those who are suffering or struggling merely to "pray harder" or "seek God more". They may believe people are only poor or homeless because of sin issues in their lives, ignoring any systemic or community issues which may be more at fault. They run very few if any outreach or community assistance programs. The "love" they preach seems to only rotate around the sanctuary itself... nowhere else.

Leaving out the commandment to love others skews their theology and the practice of their faith.

The second kind of church is really good at loving others. They run lots of community programs, such as the local food pantry and clothing warehouse and soup kitchen. They have support groups for single mothers and LGBTQ+ community members and substance abuse recovery. Sermons and teaching series tend to focus on how to care for other people and advocate for the vulnerable among us. They elevate the social values of the Bible. However, these churches are not as good at loving God. Scripture is taught less, and personal study is rarely mentioned. The sacraments may be routine acts or may be set aside and ignored. In an effort to be inclusive and loving to everyone, they may water down Jesus' message to "go and sin no more". Sometimes, God is barely even mentioned in weekly services. Sometimes, even hell is erased. The gospel is about loving others, making a difference, and being a good person.

Leaving out the commandment to love God skews their theology and the practice of their faith.

The third kind of church neither loves God well nor loves people well. They ignore both the moral and social values of the Bible, focusing instead on cultural issues and American values. They call themselves Christian but are bitter and angry and afraid. Sermons talk about how people are coming to get them, and they have to fight the cancel culture. They march against pride parades and BLM protests with signs of condemnation, they threaten abortion clinics, and yet, they feel personally persecuted, even when the thing that people are against is not their God, but their hate. 

Leaving out the greatest commandments skews their theology and the practice of their faith.

The fourth kind of church is something of a unicorn. Meaning, it can be very hard to find. The fourth kind of church both loves God well and loves others well. They believe in the God of the Bible, and they are humble before Him, understanding both His mercy and His judgment. They also understand the mandate to serve their neighbors and their community, not just those within their church walls with those outside as well. They have the God-focused worship and the fasting and the prayer and the Scripture reading, but they also have the food pantries and the clothing warehouses and the support groups. They believe in both moral and social values, with an emphasis on love and service. They love others because they love God. They love God because they see Him in others. Both parts of the cookie.

It is hard to be both. It is hard to be a Christian who follows both, let alone a church. Yet, both are essential. Our faith should look more like an Oreo, with love of neighbors like the sweet stuff in the middle encased in a chocolate love of God. That makes our churches - but more importantly, our God - irresistible.

These two commandments are essential to our faith. Jesus said the entire law and all the messages of all the prophets were wrapped up in these two commandments (Matthew 22:35-40). If we can just do these two things well, we will be fulfilling our mandate.

But we have to see that these two things go together. They must go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other.

John says if anyone who doesn’t love others can’t possibly love God (1 John 4:20). After all, every human being on this planet is an image bearer of the God who created us. His fingerprints are all over us. Anytime we hate or mistreat or persecute another, we are doing that to God Himself.

We serve a great and Almighty God. It is because of Him that we can have love for others and do the work He has commanded us to do. Therefore, worship of our God in His rightful position is equally important to remind us of our own humility and position of grace. They go together like a symbiotic relationship. Like the cookie and the cream.

We cannot separate one from the other and still have pure theology.