37 Christian Behavior: In Relation to Others (13:1-3)
Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. (13:1-3)
The first eleven chapters of Hebrews do not emphasize specific commands to Christians. There is an obvious lack of practical explanations or exhortations. The section is pure doctrine and is almost entirely directed to Jews who have received the gospel but need to be affirmed in the superiority of the New Covenant.
The exhortations in chapter 12 that apply to Christians are general, encouraging them to run the race of faith with patience and to follow peace and holiness. The specific practical exhortations for Christians are in chapter 13. This fits the pattern of New Testament teaching, which is always doctrine and then duty, position and then practice. Chapter 13 is not an afterthought, but is integral to the message of the book. True faith demands true living.
When Pliny the Younger reported on the Christians to the Roman emperor Trajan in the first century, he wrote, “They bind themselves by an oath not to any criminal end, but to avoid theft or robbery or adultery, never to break their word or repudiate a deposit when called on to refund it.” Although he was looking for a charge against them, he was forced to characterize them as a people who did not commit crimes and who paid their debts.
Early Christians were a rebuke to the pagan and immoral societies in which they lived, and those societies often sought to condemn them. But the more they examined the lives of believers, the more it became obvious that Christians lived up to the high moral standards of their doctrine.
Peter may have had such criticism in mind when he wrote, “For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Pet. 2:15). Paul wrote similar words to Titus, advising him, “In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us” (Titus 2:7-8).
Hebrews 13 gives some of the essential practical ethics of Christian living that help portray the true gospel to the world, that encourage men to trust in Christ, and that bring glory to God.
The philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote a famous essay entitled, “Why I Am Not a Christian.” In this and other essays on the same general subject, he presented what he believed were irrefutable arguments for rejecting Christianity. He focused primarily on the lives of Christians he had known or heard of who lived far less than exemplary lives. He wrote, “I think there are many good points upon which I agree with Christ a great deal more than many professing Christians. I do not know that I can go all the way with Him, but I could go with him much farther than most professing Christians can. I do not profess to live up to them (that is, Christ’s standards) myself, but then after all, it is not quite the same thing as for a Christian, is it?” He goes on to say, “There is the idea that we should all be wicked, if we did not hold to the Christian religion. It seems to me that the people who have held to it have been, for the most part, extremely wicked. The Spaniards, for example, in Mexico and Peru, used to baptize infants of the Indians, and immediately dash their brains out, by this means securing for them a place in heaven.” With many other such examples, he argued against Christianity and the Bible.
The fact that Russell chose only examples that supported his preconceived notions and was guilty of rationalizing many of his points does not lessen the impact of some of his statements. Unfortunately, throughout the history of the church, the mean, prejudiced, and immoral lives of professed Christians have given the world an excuse not to be attracted to the claims of Christ. The fact that critics usually pick out the worst examples behooves us all the more to live by the very highest standards—to keep the bad examples to a minimum. We who are true Christians have a serious responsibility to live spotlessly to the glory of God, so that unbelievers never have a just reason for criticizing the way we live, because how we live is a reflection on our Lord.
Once when I was visiting a jail, I met a prisoner who was quite vocal about his being a Christian. When I asked if he had been converted while in prison, he answered no. Then I asked why he was in jail, thinking perhaps he had been convicted for standing up for his conscience on an important Christian principle. When he told me he was jailed for ignoring 30 or so parking tickets, I strongly suggested that he not advertise the fact he was a Christian. His life was a testimony against Christ.
“The world,” said Alexander Maclaren, “takes its notion of God most of all from those who say they belong to God’s family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. They see us; they only hear about Jesus Christ.” Our Lord commanded of His followers, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).
Jesus, of course, had in mind true good works, not hypocritical pretense. At a conference where the famous evangelist D. L. Moody was present, some of the more zealous young people decided to spend a night in prayer. The next morning one of the young men said to Moody, “We have just come from a wonderful all-night prayer meeting. See how our faces shine!” The evangelist replied, “Moses knew not that his face shone.” Good works that are self-conscious and hypocritical are not hard to spot. They do not impress God or unbelievers.
Ethics has to do with standards of conduct (behavior) or moral judgment. There can be no ethics without doctrine. Doctrine is the foundation on which any practical ethic must be based. So-called situation ethics is not really ethics at all, in the sense of having a pattern or standard of behavior. When what you do is based entirely on how you feel and what you desire at any given moment, the very idea of a standard or principle is nonsense. It is not possible to have any system of ethics without standards of right and wrong. You cannot reasonably require a certain type of living or morality from a person without underlying, under-girding, and universal moral principles that determine those standards. Otherwise you have no ethics at all, only a moral free-for-all, which is exactly what many people are advocating and exemplifying today.
The idea that doctrine is useless and divisive, that all we need to live by is love, is fantasy and foolishness. Love itself needs a standard. Without a standard, one person’s idea of love often will be different from—and frequently contradictory to—someone else’s. Desiring another man’s wife may seem like love to the one who is desiring, but is something quite different to her husband. Trying to throw away doctrine while keeping ethics is like trying to keep your house intact while taking out the foundation.
Christian ethics not only demand right doctrine but a right relationship with Jesus Christ. Without a saving relationship to Him, a person will have neither the sustained desire nor the ability to live up to New Testament standards of morality. Every moral command in the New Testament presupposes faith in Christ. You cannot possibly live up to God’s standards without God.
I was once asked to speak on the Christian view of sex at an ethics class at a state university. I introduced my talk with words to this effect: “I don’t expect any of you here to believe what I say. I do not think you have the capacity either to understand or accept the Christian view of sex. It will be totally foreign to you, because you cannot comprehend or accept it without a personal relationship to Jesus Christ.” Then, before presenting the basics of the New Testament teachings about sex, I spent about half an hour explaining what a personal relationship to Jesus Christ means.
The standards of Christian behavior set forth in Hebrews 13 presuppose two basic realities: that these standards are based on the doctrinal foundation of chapters 1 through 12, and that they apply to Christian believers.
SUSTAINED LOVE
Let love of the brethren continue. (13:1)
The primary moral standard of Christianity is love, and the particular love exhorted here is love of fellow Christians. Love of the brethren is one word (Philadelphia) in the Greek and is often translated “brotherly love.” It is composed of two root words—phile
(tender affection) and adelphos (brother, or near kinsman; literally, “from the same womb”).
LOVE FOR THE BRETHREN
Brotherly love can have two significant applications. In some places in the New Testament, unbelieving Jews are spoken of as brothers. Physically, all Jews are from the same womb, descendants of Abraham by Sarah. They are God’s chosen people, with whom He is not yet finished. The first idea here, then, could be that of continuing to love fellow Jews who are not Christians. Christian Jews were to be totally separated from Judaism, from the rituals, ceremonies, laws, and standards of the Old Covenant. But they were to maintain a deep love for unbelieving fellow Jews. In turning their backs on Judaism, they were not to turn their backs on brother Jews. They were to have the same love that caused Paul to write, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites” (Rom. 9:3-4).
The primary teaching, however, is love for fellow Christians, our spiritual brothers. The admonition to let brotherly love continue indicates that such love already exists. Brotherly love is the natural outflow of the Christian life. It cannot be generated, but it can be stifled as well as nurtured. We are therefore not told to make it happen but to let it continue. When a person is saved he is naturally drawn to fellowship with other believers. Unfortunately, this attitude often changes, but it does so only if the love we were given at salvation (Rom. 5:5) is stifled.
Love of other Christians is vital to spiritual life. “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet. 1:22-23). One of the by-products of obeying God’s truth is increased love for fellow believers.
Since we were given brotherly love when we were given spiritual life, we should exercise this love. The Christian’s task is not to seek God’s blessings but to use them. We already possess all the blessings that are most important, “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3). Our primary concern should not be to look for blessings or to ask for blessings but to use our blessings (cf. Eph.l:3).
Paul teaches a closely related truth in Ephesians, as he appeals to brothers in Christ to be diligent “to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). They are told to preserve, not manufacture, the unity of the Spirit. In the same way, we preserve brotherly love by expressing it and nurturing it, and by not polluting it or neglecting it. “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more” (1 Thess. 4:9-10). We do not need to have more love; we need to use the love we have. We do not need more unity or more peace; we need to use the unity and peace that are already ours in Jesus Christ.
The believers to whom the book of Hebrews was written were experienced in showing love. “For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints” (Heb. 6:10). They had faithfully exercised love for the brethren in the past and are encouraged to continue.
The basic principle of brotherly love is simple, and is explained by Paul. “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor” (Rom. 12:10). Put in its most basic form, brotherly love is caring for fellow Christians more than we care for ourselves. When we are preoccupied with ourselves, we stifle brotherly love. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4). Brotherly love is nurtured in humility, and humility grows out of right spiritual knowledge. When we measure ourselves against the Person of Jesus Christ, who is the standard for our living, we see ourselves as we really are and are humbled. Only then are we truly able to love as God wants us to love.
WHY BROTHERLY LOVE IS IMPORTANT
Brotherly love is important for three primary reasons: it reveals to the world that we belong to Christ; it reveals our true identity to ourselves; and it delights God.
Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). In effect, God has given the world a right to evaluate us on the basis of our love for each other. As a witness to the world, and as a testimony for our Lord, it is of the greatest importance that we genuinely consider others better than ourselves, that we look out for their interests above our own. In so doing, our lives preach a powerful and eloquent sermon.
Loving fellow Christians also reveals our true identity—it gives added assurance to us of our spiritual life in Christ. “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death” (1 John 3:14). A sure proof of salvation is found in our own hearts. It is our love for each other. If we wonder about our salvation, we can ask, “Do I have a great concern for the welfare of the Christians I know? Do I enjoy their fellowship? Do I show my concern by ministering to their needs?” If the answer is yes, we have no better evidence that we are a child of God—because we love His other children, our brothers and sisters in Christ.
A third reason brotherly love is important is that it delights God. Nothing is more pleasing to parents than to see their children caring for each other. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1). When His children care for each other, help each other, and live in harmony with each other, God is both delighted and glorified. When we love each other to the degree where we are willing to give our lives for one another, we exemplify God’s own Son. “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).
New Testament brotherly love is not sentimental, superficial affection. It is affection built on deep and continuing concern and is characterized by practical commitment. “Whoever has the world’s goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17). In other words, refusing to help fellow believers when we are able to do so proves we do not really love them; and if we do not really love them, how can God’s love be in our hearts? And if His love is not in our hearts, we do not belong to Him. John’s logic is powerful and practical. He continues, “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him” (vv. 18-19).
The obvious cause of lovelessness among Christians is sin. Jesus predicted, “And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold” (Matt. 24:12). Nothing cools love as fast as sin, especially that of selfish pride. Contrary to the claims of much popular teaching and writing today that goes under the guise of evangelicalism, self-esteem, self-glory, and pride are the great enemies not only of God but of love. “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). Apart from humility, so-called love for others is nothing more than using them for selfish ends, for our own purposes and satisfaction. Self-concern and brotherly love are as mutually exclusive and contradictory as darkness and light. Love only grows in the garden of humility.
In an unusually graphic illustration, the writer of Proverbs describes the true nature of self. “The leech has two daughters, ‘Give,’ ‘Give’ ” (Prov. 30:15). The leech mentioned here, probably a large and especially repulsive creature, has two forks in its tongue, with which it sucks blood from its victims. It is said that it would often gorge itself until it exploded. Spiritually, this leech is self-love and its two daughters are self-righteousness and self-pity. It is never satisfied, and its insatiable appetite is the enemy of everything around it. It is even its own worst enemy, because self-love can never truly be satisfied.
Self-love perverts everything. Self must die if brotherly love is to continue. Pride and self-love are fatal to brotherly love. Jesus, God’s own Son, came not to be ministered to but to minister, not to do His own will but His Father’s. Who had more reason to be proud than Jesus, the Creator and Lord of the universe? Yet He said, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matt. 11:29). The only source of brotherly love is a gentle and humble heart, like the heart of Jesus.
LOVE FOR STRANGERS
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. (13:2)
Strangers, like brethren (v. 1), can refer to unbelievers as well as believers. Our first responsibility is to our brothers in Christ, but our responsibility does not end there. “While we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Gal. 6:10). Paul is just as explicit in 1 Thessalonians: “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all men” (5:15). “All men” includes even our enemies. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:43-44). Even the most worldly of people love those who love them, Jesus goes on to say (v. 46).
The danger of “being taken” is no excuse for not helping someone in need. A stranger, by definition, is someone we do not know personally. Consequently, it is easy to be deceived when helping a stranger. A person who asks us for ten dollars to buy food for his family may spend it on alcohol or drugs. We should use our common sense in deciding how best to help him, but our primary concern should be for helping, not for avoiding being taken advantage of. If we help in good faith, God will honor our effort. Love is often taken advantage of, but this is a cost that it does not count.
In the ancient world hospitality often included putting a guest up overnight or longer. Inns were few, often had poor reputations, and were expensive. Among Jews and people of the Near East in general, hospitality, even to strangers and foreigners, was a great virtue. Christians are certainly to be no less hospitable.
Hospitality is a New Testament standard for overseers, or bishops (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:8). Pastors and other church leaders are to have open homes, ready to serve and meet the needs of others. Showing hospitality to strangers is the work of a spiritual woman (1 Tim. 5:10). In other words, hospitality should be a mark of all Christians, a basic characteristic, not an incidental or optional practice.
For by this some have entertained angels without knowing it is not given as the basis or motivation for hospitality. We are not to be hospitable because on some occasion we might find ourselves ministering to angels. We are to minister out of brotherly love, for the sake of those we help and for God’s glory. The point of the second half of verse 2 is that we can never know how important and far-reaching a simple act of helpfulness may be. We minister because of need, not because of any consequences we are able to foresee. Abraham went out of his way to help the three men who were passing by his tent. He did not wait to be asked for help but volunteered. It was an opportunity more than a duty. In fact he considered the greater service was to himself, saying “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by” (Gen. 18:3). At the time, he had no idea that two of the men were angels and that the third was the Lord Himself (18:1; 19:1). And if he had known they were not, it would have been no less right for him to be hospitable.
In a sense, we always minister to the Lord when we are hospitable, especially to fellow believers. “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me” (Matt. 25:40). To feed the hungry, take in the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the imprisoned in Jesus’ name is to serve Him. To turn our backs on those in need of such things is to turn our backs on Him (v. 45).
SYMPATHY
Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. (13:3)
Sympathy is closely related to sustained love. It is easier to help others when we ourselves have needed help. It is easier to appreciate hunger when we have been hungry, loneliness when we have been lonely, and persecution when we have been persecuted. It is not that a Christian must experience starvation or extreme loneliness or imprisonment in order to be sympathetic to those who are experiencing these things. The point is that we should do our best to identify with those in need, to try to put ourselves in their places. We know that if we were starving, we would want someone to feed us, and that if we were imprisoned, we would want to be visited. We should do for them what we would want done for us were we in prison with them. It is the principle of Jesus’ golden rule: “Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12).
Among other things, Hebrews 13:3 is a warning against spiritualizing the Christian life. The Bible does not teach, as do some eastern religions, that the person in touch with God transcends physical pain, hardships, and other such realities. Our true home is heaven, but we are still in the body. We still get hungry, we still get lonely, and we still hurt, physically and psychologically. Our own hungers and hurts should make us more sensitive to those of others. Instead of seeing our own troubles as an excuse for not helping, we should see them as an incentive for being more helpful. Our own troubles should make us more sensitive, hospitable, and loving, not less. One of the surest cures for self-pity is loving service.
Tertullian, an early Christian apologist, wrote, “If there happen to be any in the mines, banished to the islands, or shut up in prisons, the Christians become carriers of their confession.” Aristodes, the pagan orator, said of the Christians, “If they hear that any one of their number is in prison or in distress for the sake of their Christ’s name, they all render aid in his necessity, and if they can, they redeem him, to set him free.” In other words, if he was in jail, they would pay his fine or redemption price. The Apostolic Confession said, “If any Christian is condemned for Christ’s sake to the mines by the ungodly, do not overlook him, but from the proceeds of your toil and sweat, send him something to support himself, and to reward the soldier of Christ. All money accruing from honest labor do you appoint and apportion to the redeeming of the saints, ransoming thereby slaves and captives and prisoners, people who are sore abused, and condemned by tyrants.” Some early Christians sold themselves into slavery to get money to free a fellow believer.
We can show sympathy in at least three important ways. For one thing, we can simply “be there” when others are in trouble. Sometimes the mere presence of a friend is the best encouragement and strength.
Another way to show sympathy is by giving direct help. Paul thanked the Philippians for sharing with him in his affliction by giving him money to carry on his ministry in other places (Phil. 4:14-16). By supporting him financially, they also encouraged him spiritually.
A third way to show sympathy is through prayer. Again Paul’s ministry gives us an example. His closing words to the Colossians, “Remember my imprisonment” (Col. 4:18), were an appeal for prayer. They could not visit him, and money would have been no help at that time. But by remembering him in prayer they could support him powerfully.
Bearing each other’s burdens fulfills Christ’s law (Gal. 6:2), which is love. If “we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb. 4:15), how much more should we sympathize with others, especially fellow Christians, who are in need? Following Jesus’ example, who did not come to be ministered to but to minister, we should lose ourselves in the sustained, sympathetic, and loving care of others.