In an old radio program named Car Talk, the hosts would regularly take turns telling their audience, “Don’t drive like my brother!” In the same way, if you were to talk with my sisters, they would probably tell you not to navigate like me (since I have gotten lost in multiple situations, and have no sense of direction), and probably to avoid some of my other bad habits.
When we joke about our siblings, though, that’s one thing. However, there are times when another person’s example (even if they aren’t a blood relative) is something we absolutely do not want to emulate. Let’s consider what the apostle John shared in the book of 1 John.
For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
1 John 3:11-12 NIV
Note that the type of love mentioned in this verse seems to be particularly focused on “one another”. Based on this, and a reference to brothers and sisters in verse 10, I am interpreting these commands as being specific to others within the church.
Of course, like God loves the world (per John 3:16), we should love our neighbor, following the example of the “Good Samaritan” that Jesus taught about (see Luke 10:25-37). We should love other people when they aren’t members of our specific congregation, and we should love people who aren’t followers of Jesus at all. However, this particular passage (along with others like the one from John 13:34-35, earlier) seems to be commanding a love for others specifically within the Body of Christ.
Why might there have been a lack of love in the church that John was writing to? Well, it appears that there were false teachers – including adherents to specific first-century beliefs, called “Gnostics” and perhaps “Docetists” – who had broken away from Christians who were trying to remain faithful to Jesus’ teachings. These divisions likely led to animosity here.
For instance, the Gnostics believed that they had special extra knowledge that “regular” Christians didn’t, and the Gnostics thought that this made them superior. With their supposed “extra knowledge“, the Gnostics also believed that their spirit was good, but since their body was already sinful, they could do whatever they wanted in the physical world and it wasn’t sin [see Warnock, p.83ff]. Spoiler alert: sin is real and sin has real consequences. I can see this tension (i.e., one party claiming that they were better than another one) leading to a shortage of love being shown, so that John had to talk about it in this letter.
So, in that light, which group was this message for?
- Was it for the Gnostics who were looking down on those who had remained faithful to the truth of Jesus’ humanity and deity?
- Or, was it for faithful Christians who got angry at the Gnostics for splitting away and teaching heresy?
- Or, was it some other problem where there was conflict in the church, separate from the doctrinal issue(s) discussed in earlier chapters?
- Or, does it not actually matter, because we should love our brothers and sisters in Christ, and not hate them, no matter what is going on?
Unless you’re facing a church split over a group that said Jesus wasn’t fully human (and even if you are), I suggest that we pick up on that last suggestion, and focus on what we should do regardless of our situation!
This reminder to love each other is especially true given the contrast in these verses with not loving one another. Cain was very un-loving to his brother Abel (his biological brother), to the point where Cain killed his brother. Why did Cain kill Abel, though? Based on Genesis 4:1-16, Cain was angry because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not his own. It seems that Abel did the right thing, and Cain did not, so Cain got angry at the results.
Now, I don’t know if groups within the first-century church (i.e., those who received the letter of 1 John) were ready to kill each other, but let’s remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22. If one group within the church is practicing righteousness (acknowledging the truth about Jesus, obeying His commands, and living like Him), and another group who is following the wrong path is getting angry – in an unrighteous way – at those who are righteous (or vice versa), then they are falling into the same trap as Cain, even if they don’t literally commit murder.
So, to paraphrase the Car Talk guys: “Don’t murder like Abel’s brother” (obviously!) or “Don’t hate like Abel’s brother”. Instead, love others – in word and in deed, and especially those within the church – and show that you belong to Jesus Christ, rather than belonging to the “evil one”. This might mean looking more closely at our own choices, to see where we might have strayed off the path and are now angry at those who are actually doing the right thing (because we’re convicted about our own wrong choices). It might mean lovingly correcting someone who has wandered away from the truth about Jesus. Regardless, don’t hate like Cain: love like Jesus, instead.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for March 2, 2025
References:
- 1717 Bible Studies, 1, 2, and 3 John, © 2025 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1, 2 & 3 John, by Morris M. Womack. © 1998 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 