With recent terror and criminal activities at the forefront of everyone's mind, the new 'hashtag' #lovewillwin has emerged.
But what kind of love are we talking about? Not all love will win against terror campaigns.
English just has one word 'love' to represent a whole multitude of things. The love I have for sweet food will not win against terrorism. The love I have for my wife will also not win against terrorism. The ancient Greeks had a number of words for love:
1. Eros
From which we get the word 'erotic,' this is the intimate love a person has for their spouse. It was this kind of love which drove the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and was the undertone of the anti-war slogan "Make love, not war."
2. Storge
This type of love describes the strong bond between a parent and child. When a father tells his daughter that he loves her, it does not mean he's an incestuous paedophile: he refers to the storge love, not the eros love.
3. Phileo
From where we get the suffix '-phile': an Anglophile is someone who loves England, or rather, is a friend of England. This is the love between friends. When people sign letters with 'lots of love,' they are not initiating extra-marital relations, they are merely expressing friendship.
4. Agape
This is often referred to as self-sacrificial love. It's the type of love that goes out of its way to care for others. It is the unconditional love that the Bible says God has for the world.
Agape is the only love that will win.
But it's often misunderstood.
Jesus says the greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbour. Or, more correctly, to agape God and to agape our neighbour. The same love we should have of God should be the same love we have for the people around us.
After his resurrection, Jesus seems to ask Peter three times if he loves him. This is actually incorrect. The first two times, Jesus asks, "Peter, do you agape me?"
Both times, Peter responds, "I phileo you."
Then Jesus finally asks, "Peter, do you phileo me?"
At this, Peter must be rather annoyed because he's already told Jesus twice that he has phileo for him, and he repeats it a third time.
Jesus calls us to agape each other. But the Christian church has copied Peter. Today's version of Christianity is full of 'acts of kindness' which, although not a bad thing, is phileo love for others. You would buy your friend a gift, you would take your friend out for coffee or for a meal. Even buying someone a Bible is only a display of phileo. The personal cost is not much, only a bit of money.
Jesus says that no one has greater agape than to lay down their lives for their friends. The love Jesus wants us to have, that his followers should display, is that of denying ourselves and putting first the Kingdom of God.
Jesus showed us how to live: calling for people to repent because the Kingdom is here, and displaying the power of that Kingdom through healings, miracles, casting out demons, raising the dead and so on. Unfortunately, Christian leaders are happy to call people to repent, but the rest of it is too difficult. Those 'other things' might make us look silly. It might draw unwanted attention. It might land us with persecution... and yet Jesus says we are blessed when we are persecuted!
The Gospel of Jesus is not just a 'hope in life after death': it has power now. We are to expect the incredible and ask for the impossible.
If Christians took their call seriously, just imagine the headlines:
"Suicide bomber raised back to life so that he can face justice."
"Driver ploughs into pedestrians: ambulance called just in case, but group of Christians healed all the victims."
"Terrorists hijack plane and crash-land: 3 dead, all terrorists."
"Teenager jumps suicidally from 10th floor: a couple of nearby Christians raise her from death and give her a renewed hope for life."
"Cancer research goes bankrupt: patients flocking to church due to much higher success rates."
The agape love will win. Christians just need to learn to embrace it. That is the Gospel of Jesus. It's what Jesus calls us to do. We need to get back to that: deny our materialist, consumerist culture; accept that some sicknesses really are evil-induced; share our things with no strings attached; learn to agape each other. The true victory is in Jesus, when we learn to agape him.
Expect the incredible; ask for the impossible.
But what kind of love are we talking about? Not all love will win against terror campaigns.
English just has one word 'love' to represent a whole multitude of things. The love I have for sweet food will not win against terrorism. The love I have for my wife will also not win against terrorism. The ancient Greeks had a number of words for love:
1. Eros
From which we get the word 'erotic,' this is the intimate love a person has for their spouse. It was this kind of love which drove the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and was the undertone of the anti-war slogan "Make love, not war."
2. Storge
This type of love describes the strong bond between a parent and child. When a father tells his daughter that he loves her, it does not mean he's an incestuous paedophile: he refers to the storge love, not the eros love.
3. Phileo
From where we get the suffix '-phile': an Anglophile is someone who loves England, or rather, is a friend of England. This is the love between friends. When people sign letters with 'lots of love,' they are not initiating extra-marital relations, they are merely expressing friendship.
4. Agape
This is often referred to as self-sacrificial love. It's the type of love that goes out of its way to care for others. It is the unconditional love that the Bible says God has for the world.
Agape is the only love that will win.
But it's often misunderstood.
Jesus says the greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbour. Or, more correctly, to agape God and to agape our neighbour. The same love we should have of God should be the same love we have for the people around us.
After his resurrection, Jesus seems to ask Peter three times if he loves him. This is actually incorrect. The first two times, Jesus asks, "Peter, do you agape me?"
Both times, Peter responds, "I phileo you."
Then Jesus finally asks, "Peter, do you phileo me?"
At this, Peter must be rather annoyed because he's already told Jesus twice that he has phileo for him, and he repeats it a third time.
Jesus calls us to agape each other. But the Christian church has copied Peter. Today's version of Christianity is full of 'acts of kindness' which, although not a bad thing, is phileo love for others. You would buy your friend a gift, you would take your friend out for coffee or for a meal. Even buying someone a Bible is only a display of phileo. The personal cost is not much, only a bit of money.
Jesus says that no one has greater agape than to lay down their lives for their friends. The love Jesus wants us to have, that his followers should display, is that of denying ourselves and putting first the Kingdom of God.
Jesus showed us how to live: calling for people to repent because the Kingdom is here, and displaying the power of that Kingdom through healings, miracles, casting out demons, raising the dead and so on. Unfortunately, Christian leaders are happy to call people to repent, but the rest of it is too difficult. Those 'other things' might make us look silly. It might draw unwanted attention. It might land us with persecution... and yet Jesus says we are blessed when we are persecuted!
The Gospel of Jesus is not just a 'hope in life after death': it has power now. We are to expect the incredible and ask for the impossible.
If Christians took their call seriously, just imagine the headlines:
"Suicide bomber raised back to life so that he can face justice."
"Driver ploughs into pedestrians: ambulance called just in case, but group of Christians healed all the victims."
"Terrorists hijack plane and crash-land: 3 dead, all terrorists."
"Teenager jumps suicidally from 10th floor: a couple of nearby Christians raise her from death and give her a renewed hope for life."
"Cancer research goes bankrupt: patients flocking to church due to much higher success rates."
The agape love will win. Christians just need to learn to embrace it. That is the Gospel of Jesus. It's what Jesus calls us to do. We need to get back to that: deny our materialist, consumerist culture; accept that some sicknesses really are evil-induced; share our things with no strings attached; learn to agape each other. The true victory is in Jesus, when we learn to agape him.
Expect the incredible; ask for the impossible.
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