It occurred to me that someone can pretty accurately gauge their Christ-likeness by (honestly) looking at the breadth of their love. How wide is the circle for which you are willing to work, sacrifice, expend time and energy? How wide is the circle for which you (honestly) would give your life?

In other words, how wide is your Circle of Love?

While I'm sure there are exceptions, the wider out your answer, the closer you are to genuine humanity, to Christ-likeness.

I think it plays out, roughly, like this:

Some brief caveats regarding the chart. The inner circles are assumed to be contained within the outer circles. E.g., if the limits of your love reach the "Ethnic/Racial Group" level, then I'm assuming you also love your family and your self within that. Also, you might be able to interchange the "Racial/Ethnic Group" and "Nation" levels depending on the racial/ethnic group and nation to which you belong. And finally, I'm well aware that there is a level smaller than the first level on my chart, or, those who can't even love themselves. Forgive me, but I find that too dark and sad even to contemplate.

Self: Face it, this is where a lot of us are, if we're really honest with ourselves. If that's where you're at, well, I couldn't do any better than to restate Martin Luther's definition of sin: homo incurvatus in se ("human beings turned inward upon themselves").

Family: This is where most people would draw the line. And, sadly, most of that group truly believe that is sufficient. Personally, I think if you draw the line here, then congratulations, you are a good mammal, not entirely different from a good lion or a good fox or a good elephant.

Ethnic/Racial Group: While your Circle of Love is certainly wider here, there is still that core of self-interestedness that is more obvious in Circles 1 and 2. In other words, by definition, the limit of your love here would extend to your ethnic/racial group.

Nation: I'm having trouble with this one, because I'm not entirely convinced that getting to this level necessarily brings one closer to true humanity. I don't know. This might be the chink in the armor of this entire little theory of mine. I might have been better off combining this level with the one underneath and calling it "Group-Generally."

Humankind: Here, you're really close to Christ-likeness. If you are honestly here, then you are so because, whether you can articulate it or not, you are aware of a shared something with all of humanity.

This isn't the final level, though. This isn't the mark. You and I both know of people who genuinely love all of humanity but would never call themselves Christians, and might even claim to not believe in a god. I've been coming to believe more and more (and this chart reflects that belief) that such people are more Christ-like than many who call themselves "Christian," attend church every Sunday, voted "Yes" on Proposition 8 (sorry for the reference, all you non-Californians), but whose Circle of Love falls below this level, and often far below.

God: Begs the question, "Which god are we talking about?"

No, not the "Absentee Landlord" Pacino's character lambastes in The Devil's Advocate (CAUTION: One use of the "f" word in this clip, for all you squeamish types).



No, not that god. I'm talking about the god revealed in Jesus of Nazareth. Yahweh. The Creator and Lover of the universe.

The One who has "been on the ground with His nose in it since this whole thing began," and climactically in the person of Jesus Christ.

The ultimate "fan of man."

If that's the god you love, then, by definition, you love all that He created and He loves, including humankind, including your nation, including your racial/ethnic group, including your family, and including yourself, in that (rough) order of focus. This is where "Christ-likeness" lies, and only here, in my humble opinion.

Just a thought.

What do you think of the diagram? Where have I gone wrong? Talk to me.

Grace and Peace,
Raffi