Inmate, Mercenary, or Fulfillment?

"Is love containable?" The professor of the philosophy class posed the question like a dagger, waiting to jab it into the unsuspecting heart of some hapless freshman. The real question, in this class, was whether or not love was real, but the majority of the class didn't know this. I happened to glance up from my crossword just long enough to see the redness start to creep onto the man's face, since no one seemed to want to answer the question at 8:00am on a Monday morning. This post-modernist had one thing to say as he ventured onward with his rehearsed speech: "Love is, quite simply, whatever you want to make it. Whether or not it's even real is up to you." That earned him a look from many, and a snide remark from a particular guy who really didn't want to be there and was still trying to figure out a ten-letter word for wildly funny (36 Across). It just so happened to be "hysterical," which is what this class was quickly becoming with its mind-numbing excursions into all things post-modern and "the deeper things of life," as the professor would say. 

The truth of the matter is that we live in a society where most people want to believe this. We like the idea of creating things for ourselves because it makes us feel like we're in control of something. From our spiritual lives to love, absolute truth to God, we like to think that we have the power to control things. It's like a tiny ant shaking its fist and saying "You can't do this, I don't even believe in you!" before the little boy mindlessly puts the beam of the magnifying glass on him.

Even as Christians, we like to come up with our own definitions for things. We like to have our own "personal spirituality," to be incredibly PC, to be looked at as being no different from the world. Unfortunately, far too many of us succeed in this arena. We ever so slyly develop our own ideas on the ways in which we should love God. We love God when He really blesses us with that new job or with that peace amidst the family strife, only to be completely out of church, fellowship and communion shortly thereafter. We depend on God for our food, but not our families... that's our kids' "choice" to make, since we think that our 14 year old is at the ripe age for great decisions. We try to separate the "spiritual" from the "secular" even if only in our heads, attempting to look like America's atheistic "separation of Church and State." How many of us really seek to love God in the way that He commanded to be loved?

In Thomas Watson's book "All Things for Good," the 17th Century Puritan pastor takes a long look at love. He devotes an entire chapter of this theological gem to God's people loving Him. Evidently, Watson faced many of the same things back then that we still see today.

The first of these is the idea of "compartmentalization." Dr. Wood did a sermon on this a while back with drawers and a hope chest, but Watson really hit home with his brief chapter. In it, he says, "God will not be an inmate, to have only one room in the heart, and all the other rooms let out to sin. It [the Christian's love to God] must be an entire love." Far too many of us who claim to follow the Lord do this very thing. We keep our walk in its compartment until Sunday or Wednesday, or if we need to look "spiritual" by saying a prayer at dinner time or when a friend is having a rough go at it. We attempt to lock God away and do our own thing until we really need Him.

The second idea is the idea that God's love is mercenary. We all like to think that "if I just do this, God will show His grace on my life and bless me!" There were several churches a few years ago who were teaching a revamped version of the "Prosperity Movement" with a particular book where if you just say the right prayer, then God is going to make sure that you're prosperous in all the ways of your heart. "Here's my prayer, Lord, now where's my money and my car and my nice new 2500 sq. ft. house?" We like to think that God's love and blessing is mercenary. "Many love God because He gives them corn and wine, and not for His intrinsic excellencies. We must love God more for what He is, than for what He bestows. True love is not mercenary." God is the Almighty, the Creator, the Author of Life, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords... and we're going to love Him because he gave us that 4Runner, rather than for being those things? We're going to withhold our love of our Redeemer until He gives us that relationship that we think completes us?

A very simple, yet deep, definition of the way in which we should love God is found in Deuteronomy 6v.5. Many of us have heard it, yet many of us have never even really thought about the way in which we should be loving God: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." Our love for God must be fully-encompassing. Our heart (emotions and thoughts), our soul (spiritual life), and our might (all physical aspects of our lives) are to be focused on one thing - glorifying God. 

Many of us need to re-evaluate how we define love. With February, the "month of love," already here, let us take the time to look at love in our own lives, from the people around us to the God we worship, and see if we are keeping them prisoner, loving them just for what they give us, or giving our all in love. Let's make sure that the philosophy professor inside of all of us has nothing more to do with the ways in which we love others. Love God, love people, love the Church; and do all of it with every ounce of your heart, soul, and might.