“For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
If you are not familiar with Dreamworks animated movies, the reference in this title will not be immediately clear. This question comes from the movie Rise of the Guardians, a fairytale story about characters like Santa Claus, the easter bunny, Mr. Sandman, the tooth fairy, etc. who guard the wonders of childhood from various threats that might steal their joy. Long story short, the boogie man had escaped the prison the guardians previously thrust him into and was coming to terrorize the children again. So, they were tasked by the man in the moon to recruit Jack Frost to become a guardian to defeat him, a job he had no interest in taking. Santa Claus used a little wooden toy shaped like himself to press Jack to consider who he was, what his center was, so he would see why he needed to be a guardian. The toy had several different layers of painted wooden Santa Claus dolls, each depicting a different characteristic of him. He was jolly, mysterious, fearless, caring, etc., but at his center, the thing that generated all the other characteristics, he was one who saw the wonder in everything. This drove him to protect the wonder in the lives of children.
Of course, this discussion is not concerned with any of those mythical characters per se, but the point of this fictional interaction is valid to how we approach our Christian lives. If you were asked to summarize what it means to be a Christian in one brief paragraph, what would you say? Perhaps you would say something about the pursuit of holiness, serving others, caring for the poor and needy, helping sinners find their way, securing your home, being a productive worker, learning and defending the truth, etc., all of which are critical elements of being a Christian (1 Peter 1:15-16; Matthew 20:20-28; Galatians6:10; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 5:22-6:9; Colossians 3:22-25; Jude 3).
The question we seek to answer in this discussion, like the one in our fictional story above is not merely, what things do Christians do, but why do we do the things that we do? While the passage in the opening of this is not the only one that may speak to this reality, it is a powerful summary of the whole Christian endeavor. As Paul discussed the necessity of seeking to please the Lord due to the inescapability of judgment, he highlighted God’s diligent work in reconciling us to Himself in and through Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:9-21). In the midst of the discussion, he gave the rationale for all that we do as those whom God reconciled, our center if you will.
The love of Christ is that which makes us pursue, do, and be all the other things we may list about Christian living. The KJV says the love of Christ “…constraineth us.” The NKJV says it “…compels us.” The word translated can mean either to constrain (hold back from) or compel (press us forward to). The context does not narrow its focus for us, so either translation is worthy. However, the ESV seems to capture fully the essence of the term in this passage saying, “…the love of Christ controls us.”
If we go back to our question above, we are challenged to examine ourselves carefully and discern what truly the controlling force in our lives is. Do we do what we do as Christians because, at our center, the love Christ shed on us has generated such a reciprocal love for Him that we could not imagine living any other way than to follow His directives (Matthew 22:34-40; John 14:15, 23; 15:14; 1 John 5:1-3)? What is your center?