Enjoy the Pastor's Article from our monthly newsletter

FROM THE PASTOR

 

It is easy to love the lovely.  We are naturally drawn to that which is beautiful or delightful.  There is nothing essentially wrong with this response.  It is right to admire the beauty and grace integrated into God’s good creation.  The Maker’s art shows up in almost infinite ways to those who have eyes to see.  It is right and proper to delight in the delightful.

 

What I am describing is erotic love.  Now, we usually think of romance and sexuality when we use the word erotic, but it is actually a much bigger word.  It is what we feel toward a clean, happy baby who is waving his arms and cooing.  That is why we are likely to say, “You are so sweet, I could just eat you up.”  There is nothing remotely sexual about that picture of a baby, but it still falls under the umbrella of erotic attraction.  We innately employ words of consumption and sensuality to describe it.  Eros is the desire for the desirable.  It shows up in all the areas of life where pleasure and desire are stimulated.

 

A problem with Eros is that it is usually shallow.  Much beauty is superficial.   My delight in the perfect morning is ruined when I get my shoes muddy from a leaking sprinkler valve.  My feelings change rapidly when that baby smells badly and is green at both ends.  Take away the lovely, and the desire for the object shrinks rapidly.  Another problem is that Eros easily passes into an inordinate impulse to possess.  I will not spend time trying to list the perversions that come from twisted desire.  The consequences it produces range from mildly to massively destructive.

 

We obviously need a stronger type of love if we are going to love the unlovely.  What happens when that same child has a crimson face, screaming and thrashing on the floor?  What will we do when that tantrum has gone on for days?  That is a very different situation.  It is where God’s type of love is needed. 

 

Now, God does feel Eros.  Read the Psalms and Prophets to get glimpses of his delight in the delightful.  But, fortunately for us, he also possesses a deeper, tougher type of love.  Almost every Christian knows that Agape is the word used for this strong, commitment type of love.  It is what guides God’s actions toward his rebellious creation.  It is the force that keeps him turned toward the human race in all our destructive rage.

 

We will never find this kind of love by looking inside ourselves.  It does not originate from within us. It was probably there in the beginning, but was snuffed out by the fall.  We will have to find it somewhere else.  That place is in Jesus Christ.  The Apostle John teaches us that we are able to demonstrate Agape in response to Jesus’ love for us.  It is most clearly seen in the gospel story and experienced in the salvation he brought to humanity.  He did not draw back into the safety of heaven when he contemplated our nasty attitudes and destructive actions.

 

So we must go to him to get the love we need.  There is no other source.  Some people are able to fake Agape for a while.  They hold their breath, picture pretty blue skies, and wade into the unhappy realities of life.  Some are able to hold their breath a long time.  But at best, they are like the uncle who passes the baby back to mom as soon as the diapers need changed.  This is one of the main reasons that Jesus’ people are to be known for their Agape.  It becomes proof that we are fully united with him.

 

To love like Jesus, we must have a passion that does not shrink back from the disagreeable.  It must even be ready to deal with the disgusting and disgraceful.  So, it has to be tougher than the ugly realities of broken life.  Now, please understand that we do not somehow fabricate this love out of our own substance.  We find it in Jesus. We experience it through our identity with him.  It is part of our inheritance in Christ.  So it is there for the taking if we choose to use it.