I read this interview in the newest Leadership magazine. It is an interview of Don Miller, authoro of "Blue Like Jazz". I highly recommend this book to anyone interested.
This is a part of the interview that I can't get out of my head. So tell me what you think.
I - "So, (Don), you've said that the church uses love as a commodity. What does that mean?"
D - "We sometimes take a Darwinian approach with love - if we are gainst somebody's ideas, we starve them out. I fwe disagree with somebody's political ideas, or sexual identity, we just don't pay them. We refuse to "condone the behavior" by offering any love. This approach has created a Christian culture that is completely unaware what the greater culture thinks of us. We don't interact with people who don't validate our ideas. There is nothing revolutionary here. This mindset is hardly a breath of fresh air to a world that uses the exact kinds of techniques. "
I - "So what's the alternative?"
D - "The opposite is Biblical Love, which loves even enemies, loves unconditionally, and loves liberally. Loving selectively is worldly; giving it freely is miraculous."
I - "If love isn't a commodity, then what is it?"
D - "I think of love like a magnent. When people see it given in the name of God, they're drawn to it. If I withold love, then people believe I have met a God that makes me a hateful and vicious person. And they're repelled..."
So what do you think? Is Love a commodity or a magnent?
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5 comments:
Morning Ben,
I can't even think of Love as a commodity. To me the obviousness of it being a magnet is total, however I know people often view things of a higher nature as simply something to market, push, sell, and or be in style, in order to gain attendance styled as "growth". Should I check my wrist for a WWJD bracelet? Or should I check my life for how I serve the ones Jesus bled and died for?
Good Morning Brother Terry,
I appreciate your statement here, that we many times treat love as "something to market,push,sell, and or be in style, in order to gain attendance styled as growth." I have been mulling this over in my head. Jesus gave his love freely, to the disenfranchised, the marginalized, the outcasts. He had no alterior motive. His motive was love and redemption. He had no fear of any doctrine being twisted or tainted, rather he saw that the truth is not in a doctrine, but in a life lived out. He never circled the wagons in fear of cultural contamination, rather, he allowed for the Holy Spirit to work through him to tranform the culture. I think this is a different picture than many of our churches and christians today.
Wow, He never feared cultural Contamination, powerful!
Interesting interview. I remember reading someone (can't remember whom) 30 years ago who said that maintaining norms of right vs. wrong and unconditional love are in conflict, and that we must always err on the side of love.
Dean
You want love? I've got it for $20 a gallon. If you can find a better price, I'll beat it by 10%.
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