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).  

Don't Be Hatin'

Over the last few weeks, I have noticed an alarming trend that is growing within the body of Christ. From the controversy surrounding a major fast food chain and a myriad of snippets posted on Facebook, I’m concerned that the church has lost something of great significance concerning its purpose. Put simply, we have misunderstood the love of God to the point of rendering us ineffective to make an impact upon the world we live in. We certainly know that God loves us and that He loves others. We can stand upon the truth of John 3:16 and confidently proclaim that God loves the world; however, the problem we face is in understanding what God’s love actually means. For too many, His love is equated with this idea that we cannot judge the fruit of righteous and unrighteous living. In fact, many are now holding to the belief that it would be wrong for us to hate the sin of others because we have enough sin in our own lives to worry about. We’ve created a new church culture that holds to an “I’m okay, you’re okay” mentality and we’re all in the sin boat together so let’s not talk about it! We so want to love people into the kingdom of God and make them feel warm and cozy about Jesus that we forget, unless there is a reckoning of one’s sin, THERE IS NO SALVATION! Without a world seeing its sin for what it is, the idea of Jesus makes no sense. Furthermore, how does a world that is blinded in deception even begin to recognize sin if the church is not revealing the truth of their condition?

Jesus gave the church the commission to “go into all the world and make disciples of the nations” (Matthew 28:19). In other words, we are called to reach this world with the message of the gospel and to reproduce disciples who follow Jesus Christ. Part of this mission is in embracing God’s expectations concerning sin. God’s Word has commanded the church to address the subject of sin on an ongoing basis:

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness (sin) but rather EXPOSE them” (Ephesians 5:11).

“The acts of the sinful nature as obvious…I WARN you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).

“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality…the Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already TOLD you and WARNED you” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-6)

“The Spirit clearly says that in the later times some will abandon the faith and following deceiving spirits…if you POINT THESE THINGS OUT to the brothers you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 4:1-6).  

Sin should be and needs to be dealt within the culture of the church. We are to be a people who warn and tell others about the devastating consequences that sin brings to our lives. We are to recognize sin and to eradicate it from our lives and from the church! If we do not do these things, we fail to exercise the love of God to others. Avoiding the obvious sin of others and looking the other way because we do not want to offend, is much like letting your child run into a busy street after a ball. If you love your brother and sister in Christ, you much rather offend them to the pathway of life than to condemn them to the highway of death. Sin ALWAYS has consequence. We have biblical permission to point sin out in other’s lives---not to condemn, but to show love and help them to become true disciples of Jesus Christ.

We too often forget that the message of the gospel is “repent for the kingdom of God is near” (Matthew3:2, 4:17). Even Peter’s first sermon after Pentecost made no mention of God’s love; rather, Peter pointed out the people’s sin and there need to recognize Jesus Christ as the only one who can save (see Acts 2). We cannot convince the world that Jesus loves them by making them believe that being a Christian will give them a better life. God’s love can only be understood in light of the subject of sin. By the church refusing to stand for righteousness, holiness, and truth, we refuse to show the world God’s love!  As God’s people, we need to address sin in our society and call this world to repentance. Why do we think it is impossible to hate sin and love the sinner? Our hypocrisy in the church screams when we will not hesitate to rally for a good cause that will help someone in a crisis. We hate what the person is going through and we’ll even voice our concern over their condition. We’ll ask things like, “What are you going to do about your cancer? What is your plan in looking for a new job? How will you handle life during this divorce?” Yet, we won’t address the sin that is destroying their lives more than any crisis they will ever face because we are afraid as being seen as offensive and unloving. Do we really think we’re going to give Jesus a bad name in proclaiming His position on sin? The time has come for us to quit being cowards for Christ and boldly make a stand against sin---both in the church and the world---and throw away the notion that offending someone cannot be loving them at the same time. As Paul said, “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:16).  This gospel was more than “God loves you,” but it most certainly addressed the sinfulness of man and his need for a Savior.

In the end, we need to realize that as believers, we are to hate sin! Regardless of whose sin it is, we are to hate what God hates. We must refuse the postmodern, emergent theological garbage that suggests Christianity is permissive, understanding, and all-inclusive religion. God does so love the world; but He showed that love by being crucified because of our sin that expresses itself in things like sexual immorality, homosexuality, lying, cheating, stealing, rebellion, hatred, and  jealously to name a few. Sin is the problem and will always be man’s one dilemma in life. The answer is simple in showing the world the love of Christ: first show them the sin that separates them from a loving God who gave all He could possibly give, and by doing so, they will recognize the depths of God’s love that has called them “out of darkness into the wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).