Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Unfundamentalist Christians

Home
Progressive Christian
Love, Love, Love: The painfully misunderstood, profoundly simple, earth-shattering message of Jesus

Love, Love, Love: The painfully misunderstood, profoundly simple, earth-shattering message of Jesus

Last updated on: August 24, 2016 at 4:05 am by Guest Contributor

Love, Love, Love: The painfully misunderstood, profoundly simple, earth-shattering message of Jesus 2016-08-23T21:59:42-06:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This guest post was written by Emma Higgs.

By United Press International, photographer unknown [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

If someone was to ask me to sum up the message of Jesus in a few words, I would probably quote the Beatles:

“All you need is love.”

Love.

Not just shallow, gooey, fluffy, romantic love.

The kind of love that sets people free.

Love that gives of itself endlessly and asks for nothing in return.

Love that fights tirelessly for the needs and rights of strangers.

Love that breaks down barriers, crosses borders, and shatters social constructs and expectations.

Love that sees the beauty in all life and seeks to honor, treasure, and nurture it.

Love that treats the outcasts of society as if they were worth more than all the diamonds, gold, and oil in the world combined.

Love that brings tangible hope to those who are suffering physical or emotional pain … those who are lonely, lost or terrified … those whose hearts ache with grief … those who long for deeper meaning and significance.

Love that points to a greater reality, a greater purpose, and a greater future for the whole of creation.

Love that never, ever, ever gives up.

That is the kind of love that brings transformation.

This is not a sideline to the main Gospel message in the Bible, an optional add-on that helps to make life more bearable but is ultimately pointless.

This is the point.

Over the centuries, we “Christians” have complicated and distorted this message. We have added conditions, built walls, piled on guilt. We have embarked upon great, well-meaning excursions in entirely the wrong direction, and fought battles in the name of Jesus without realizing that it is Jesus himself we are fighting.

In particular, we are still obsessed with the idea of “purity.” We have this deeply ingrained idea that our job is to be the Morality Police, to keep everyone in check and keep standards up. The church’s current preoccupation with sexuality makes this all too clear. Our job is not to make sure everyone meets all of our moral ideals. Our job is to love. That is what we should be known for.

This is far from a wishy-washy, watered-down, “easy” version of the Gospel. Love is as fierce as a mother defending her children in a war zone. It is as powerful as a tsunami and illuminates even the darkest, most hopeless places.

Love speaks out against the powers of this world that crush those on the underside. It cries out on behalf of those who have no voice. It swims against the tides of culture and refuses to participate in systems and structures that breed inequality and injustice.

Love is transforming this world.

One day love will win.

And in the meantime, Jesus tells us to get on with the dirty, dangerous work of loving against all odds.

There are many things we cannot understand and will never be able to fully explain. But just imagine what could happen if we “Christians” accepted this mystery, and channeled all the energy we spend arguing about moral issues into unconditionally, selflessly, and tirelessly loving our world. (Moral issues are important, but secondary. I suspect if love truly was our compass and our driving force, the moral issues would start to resolve themselves or at least pale into insignificance.)

Love. No ifs, no buts.

Profoundly simple, yet radically counter-cultural and earth-shattering.

I wonder if the Beatles knew how right they were.

emma About Emma Higgs
Emma Higgs lives with her husband and two toddlers in Plymouth, England. When she finds a minute, she blogs about progressive theology, Christianity & homosexuality, and mental health at www.emmahiggs.com. Find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Christian Spirituality

Emma Higgs

love

Previous Post

August 23, 2016

Will the Real Black Church Please Stand Up?

Next Post

August 25, 2016 Innocence and Awareness: Questioning Original Sin

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Christian History Christian Issues Christian Spirituality Current Events Fundamentalism Islam John Shore LGBT Movie Reviews Poetry Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz