Rethinking Bible Language: Love

Jesus summarizes the entire Jewish religious life with this - love God with all of your being and love your neighbor as yourself. John, one of Jesus' disciples, later writes the profoundly succinct insight that "God is love" and claims that this divine love abides in us. To love is to embody God. Love is the connective force that brings together and unifies that which appears separate. And that is the work of God in which humanity is called to partner, to reconcile the world back to a unified life abiding in the source of all life. Love is what unifies humanity to each other and unifies humanity with God. This isn't a love the demands conformity, as if everyone must look, think, or act the same way, but instead this love displays the interconnectedness of all humanity expressed in billions of unique ways. Love alone can achieve unity without diminishing or erasing diversity.

Despite love being the primary identifying mark of a disciple of Jesus according to the Christian scriptures, many Christians today prefer to be known primarily by their moral stances and political affiliations. Hateful rhetoric, apathy, demonization, and even violence have been justified in defense of "Christian values". Instead of stepping into the world as representatives of divine love, many Christians have instead retreated from the world in fear of the influence of other worldviews. They have proven that they are only capable of loving those like themselves, which resembles narcissism much more than divine love. Baseless fear-mongering and conspiracy theories have replaced the calm and steady reassurance that we are not alone in this world, that we belong to a beautifully diverse family of humanity made in the image and likeness of God. It is necessary for these Christians to reexamine what love might look like if they are to be an embodiment of divine love.

Biblical love is not simply concern or care for another person. Love doesn't find its fulfillment with mere thoughts and prayers. It's not an act that requires reciprocation. Love is the powerful force that breaks through our illusion of separation and blurs the line of distinction between you and me. It allows me to truly love my neighbor as myself, because my own well-being and my neighbor's well-being are inseparably connected. Love prevents any type of attitude that would seek to protect "me and mine" or put ones own personal or national interests above others. It requires that we look out for "the least of these" because when one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers. Further, Jesus' command to "love your enemy" ensures that we don't exclude anyone from the all-inclusive, unconditional reach of divine love.

"Divine love, incarnate and indwelling in the world, summons the world always towards wholeness, which ultimately is reconciliation and atonment with God." - Wendell Berry