Love is Not Love

Love. It is a word that we Americans, well, we “love.” We love everything from our spouses, kids, dogs, jobs, cars, and even Velveeta Cheese smothered in Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup (not that I would ever admit that I have tried such a concoction). The point is that we have assigned this word love to every arena of our lives. And the result? Love no longer means love. In its defense, love is a difficult word to define, at least in the English language. Even the 1828 Webster’s definition had difficulty pinpointing the essence of what love truly is. Generally speaking, Webster defined it as “that which gives us pleasure and delight” (it is interesting that Webster also states that “if our hearts are RIGHT, we love God above all things”). For the most part, what we see with the word love is a reflection as to what is happening in society----a devaluing of meaning and worth. The postmodern mindset has successfully permeated our culture to the point where meaning is no longer contingent upon truth but personal interpretation. Unfortunately, this is not limited to culture but has infiltrated the ideology of today’s American church. In embracing the trend of postmodernism, we have become dangerously close, if not already guilty of, profaning the ultimate meaning and expression of love: Jesus Christ.

If one were to step onto our planet for the very first time and somehow find themselves in the midst of the American culture, what would their understanding of love become? Although we would try to convey with our words love’s meaning, our actions would speak much louder. It would not take long for the stranger to deduce that love must be “whatever makes me happy and makes others happy in such a way that we are never offended, never corrected, and always accepted in the pursuit of that which gratifies and brings pleasure.” With that new founded understanding, when that stranger would hear the phrase, “For God so loved the world….” one has to wonder how he would interpret its meaning. The truth is, we do not need this first-time visitor to help us answer the question. We only need to look at the endless threads of social media posts that scream the mentality of this stranger’s definition of love. Love has become whatever we want it to be, after all “love is love.” So what is the big deal? Am I simply being just another close-minded judgmental Christian that can’t see how much Jesus loves us? No, I am tired of seeing believers live in a state of deception and confusion. In other words church, you’re starting to drink the Kool-Aid and are about to commit mass suicide. The church is failing miserably despite its trend of attempting to become more relevant toward culture. So why isn’t that working for us? Why isn’t the idea of “just love people” having much effect? My humble opinion? Because we are offering a picture of God’s love that is not accurate. Quite simply, it’s because we don’t understand God’s love.

God’s love is not our love! God’s love cannot be defined through what we think love is to be. His love is revealed to us in Scripture but we seldom consider what it conveys. Here are the facts: God does not accept us as we are! If you believe that, then you just eliminated any reason for Jesus to sacrifice Himself on the cross, thus rendering it meaningless. Why can’t we be accepted without the cross? Because we are sinners. Put that idea in our modern vernacular and we just devalued society’s meaning of love: God puts stipulations upon accepting us. Yes, He loves us, but to God, love and acceptance are two entirely different things. God is also very offensive! It is impossible to be not be offensive to God, He’s God, the epitome of holiness. He calls sin, SIN! Just the very thought of John 3:16 is offensive---What do you mean that I have to believe in Jesus to have eternal life? God, are you insinuating that there is something wrong with me, that I am somehow not good enough on my own to go to heaven? That’s exactly what it means! (Especially if you consider John 3:17, that suggests we need to repent.) Hey, try to suggest that someone needs to change and isn’t good enough for something, and say, “But I still love you.” I guarantee they will not believe you; but God still loves us even though He says that to us. God is not concerned with our happiness, He’s concerned with our eternity. He is hard on sin---so hard on it that He gave His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ to pay an awful price for you!  In the end, we have created a god that serves our own understanding and desire. We want to define his love as we define love in the hopes that it will somehow make us all feel better and get along with one another. Yes, God loves you, but it’s not how you love Him or love others. For Him, love can be offensive, love doesn’t have to accept, and love is willing to do what is necessary in order for you to see the truth of His love even if that means suffering an eternity without Him because you refused to accept the ultimate expression of His love in Jesus Christ (John 3:16).