Love...

There is nothing in the world like love. Over the years many, in trying to define it, have actually dragged it down to a very low estate with low brow analogies and romanticized equivocations. It has been reduced to the stylized form of a heart which is then used as a verb as in “I heart you”, or “I heart my peek-a-pooh-malta-huahua” (whatever that is). The danger is in attaching things to love which don’t belong, and in so doing, we sell it short due to human frailty. How do you describe something so esoteric and yet so down to earth? It is not animal, vegetable or mineral. It could be as small as a baby’s sigh or as large as the universe itself. Its weight can be heavy enough to crush a man. It can also make a man feel light as a feather. It can be as soft as the down on a newborn chick, and at the same time; it can be as tough as nails.

What can it do? It can pull someone from the depths of despair and propel them toward a dawn of renewed hope and optimism. People without real love often spend much of their time in the darkest regions of the human soul. In that realm jealousy nurses her deadly offspring of broken trust, suspicion and unbridled paranoia. Love’s power is immeasurable, and its strength is unbreakable.
There are no words to explain its power to motivate, or its ability to provoke. This terrible, yet terrific motivator can provoke the most wonderful acts of selflessness. In the same moment, the threat of its being withheld induces the most horrific displays of self-centeredness imaginable. When people betray love for self, there is no more deadly combination.

There are many who are searching for it without knowing exactly what it is. They systematically test one dry well after another with no success. The use of drugs, illicit sex, knowledge, status, power; have all been confused for love. These are however; a mere shadow of the genuine article. It is often confused with a perverted cousin known as lust. Passion is love’s companion. Passion is often seen without love but not the other way around. Love is usually drowned out by a dozen miserable pretenders who try to steal center stage in a man’s heart. The extremes of its influence have taken people from the edge of reason to the brink of insanity. It can leave a man on his knees or it can lift him up to the pinnacle of joy. Grown men weep when betrayed by the object of their love. School boys take it for granted when it comes from their parents, but swoon with delight if it comes from the little girl across the classroom. The thought of losing it can break the strongest, corrupt the saintliest, and completely destroy the very one who is desperately clinging to it. These descriptions are all just love contaminated by human failings. Its purest form can’t be found in the human heart. This kind must come from without.

Love is defined by condescension, sacrifice, selflessness, and an overarching passion for its object. Many have different feelings about why Christ came, but I know the real reason. In coming as He came, and dying as He died, He stepped down. He is the paragon of selflessness and self effacement. He didn’t just appear in order to die immediately; instead He gave thirty-three years to the mission of letting man know Him. He also wanted to know man by experience and not just by His omniscience. It involved loss of personal prestige, loss of time, and the loss of the use of His sovereignty; not to mention His angelic attendants. As he pointed out in His prayer found in John chapter seventeen “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” He stepped down to wash His disciples’ feet. He bowed down to serve the servants. Often, His compassion couldn’t be bridled as it practically bursts from His lips at times. “Behold, the fields are white already to harvest.” Likewise, His Godly passion was seen as He cleansed the temple of those with a God called money, not once, but twice. Is there a greater scene in the history of the world than “On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross….” In the midst of His suffering He calls on His disciple John to care for His mother. He calls on His father to forgive those who tortured Him. This completes the picture of love in all its aspects. He looks to the thief on the cross next to His own and promises eternal life. He turns His gaze of compassion on us and doesn’t expect anything in return, but offers us the same bargain.

Morbid Curiosity

What is it about human nature that makes draws us in when something bad is happening? During a recent car trip, our progress was much impeded by a series of accidents on the “other” lane of travel on a divided highway. Multiple times there was a back up of one or two miles while folks gawked at the imagined carnage on the other side of the median (although the accidents were minor).
Why are we drawn to tragedy? What is there in humanity which can draw either empathy or a detached amusement, depending on the point of view of the individual? We see it every day, a tragic news story leads the evening news and grabs the headlines on many Web Sites. There is a strange dichotomy at work and I think I have seen what it is all about.

“American Idol” is one of America's most watched television shows. There is no mystery why this is true. Let me explain. As mentioned above, there are two reactions people have to the dramatic. We either stare in disbelief and then empathize or we laugh at their calamity. Am I wrong?
There is nothing wholesome nor “good” about this. At this point I must put forth an explanation; I am not condemning folks who watch “American Idol” since I would be including myself (at least in the past). I am however, asking Christian folks with a desire to please their Lord to consider the petty and mean-spiritedness this show generates in each of us.

Who hasn't watched this show and laughed at the unbelievably self-deluded souls who claim with much fanfare that they CAN SING, when all evidence (including those of the professional judges who ought to know) points to the contrary. My favorites are those who say that “My momma says I sing good.” Mom should really be more honest with her children, and urge them to pursue something more in line with their talents but that's another discussion. While it is funny in one sense, it is also tragic. What hope does one of these people have of making it in this world when they are not in contact with reality? There is no shame in trying to accomplish a big task or having lofty goals. God rewards faith, but not when it is placed in one's self. Am I the only one who felt guilty about the fun poked at these folks who not only can't sing, but who are belittled for the lack of physical beauty? Who can forget Simon Cowel referring to one man as a “Bushbaby”? Who can stand up against that kind of critical scrutiny? Not I! Compare this with Paul's words in II Cor. 10:17-18 “But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. “

There is one more aspect of “American Idol” which is troubling to the thoughtful soul. What is it that these people are aspiring to do? They want to be adored (read that affirmed, loved, accepted) by a wide segment of the population for a narrow range of talent and an even narrower range of morality. Why would a Christian consider this as a goal worthy of cheering on, let alone watching (even passively)? The source of acceptance and love is the Lord. (Eph. 1:6 “...accepted in the beloved...” ; Rom. 5:8 “God commendeth His love toward us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”) To search for love and acceptance in anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ is a sad and fruitless escapade. Fame and fortune are fleeting, but “he that doeth the will of God abideth forever...” I John 2:17