“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’” (an expert in the law described the two greatest commandments).
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied to him…
But the man wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:27-29)

A few weeks ago, a major airline had a catastrophic public relations nightmare as a passenger was forcibly removed from their aircraft while other passengers caught it all on video. The images went viral as they were shared all over social media and the news. As a frequent flier of that airline, I received a letter last week from their CEO that was undoubtedly crafted by some of the best damage-control experts in the industry. I mean, it was a work of art, among those of us who work in communication.

But one line near the beginning of the letter struck me, particularly. You see, I immediately thought of us Christians when I read it:

The incident “happened because our corporate policies were placed ahead of our shared values. Our procedures got in the way of our employees doing what they know is right.”

Doesn’t that describe us so well? Our Christian policies—the biblical truths which define how we behave—are placed ahead of our shared values—which must always be love.

Love. Lest we forget what kind of love we’re talking about, it’s the kind that really cares about people and is stirred to understand people’s unique situations and come along side of them and help. (The kind of love the Good Samaritan showed in Luke 10:25-37).

To borrow the airline’s phrase: Love often fails among us as Christians because our policies are placed ahead of our shared value. Our procedures get in the way of us doing what we know is right.

Our Christian standards, which are real and biblical, are placed ahead of love which we know is the greatest commandment of all…the standard by which all other standards are measured.

Something to think about…