My friend, Danny, wrote an insightful piece about how we've managed to mess up the entire concept of love in our society today, and the ramifications of that mess. In one of his own comments in that essay he wrote, "Love must be gotten right lest we end up loving the world to death." Of course, the best source for an accurate depiction of the love that Christians are supposed to have is found in 1 Corinthians 13. So I thought I'd reexamine that passage. And I thought that perhaps I'd reexamine it by rewording it. No, this isn't Scripture; it's a paraphrase. But perhaps it will help expand my understanding ... and yours. So, here are the first three verses my way.
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Imagine, if you will, that I have a truly miraculous capacity for languages. I can speak any language ever spoken, whether human or otherwise. Imagine, then, that I use this capacity for all sorts of good things, with the single lack that I don't do it motivated by love. Do you know what that's called? It's called "noise". That's right. Worse than useless, it is irritating.
Imagine again that I have the brain of a demigod. I don't simply understand the normal things around us. I understand vast concepts beyond your comprehension. I can predict the future and explain mysteries that no one has figured out. I know all that stuff you don't even know you don't know. So brilliant am I that I can believe far more than you can believe. So stunning is this faith of mine that I can even do what Jesus suggested -- believe enough to move mountains. So, here I am with this tremendous mental capacity tied to this monumental faith capacity, and all I lack is love. The sum total? Nothing, zero, zip, zilch. A useless brain and a useless faith.
Here's an ever popular idea. Let's say that I'm the epitome of generosity. Surely there's nothing bad about that! The generous man is the most cherished and coveted man of all time. And I am that man. I have billions and I don't hold back. It's all out there for the sake of charity. Not only do I donate all my goods, I donate all my self. I'm daily working on volunteer tasks helping this person or that group or whomever I can find until I'm sick for lack of taking care of myself in order to give all that I have and am to others. There's just one thing I'm missing. It's the motivation of love. But, hey, that can't be all bad, right? I mean, no one is more generous than I, so what difference does it make? The difference is that this single absent component makes all that I do less than zero.
It doesn't matter who you imagine. I am the finest orator of all time, able to persuade people to great deeds. I am the best pastor you've ever heard, with a depth of knowledge and the finest skills of presentation and just the right touch of humor and application. I am your favorite politician with all the people skills and leadership ability. I'm the guy that runs the local soup kitchen for the homeless, the congressman who works hard to raise taxes on the rich so we can pay for healthcare for all, the lawyer that defends the weak and helpless against all odds and wins. But if any of this is performed without the motivation of love at its core, all of it is less than useless. It is simply noise, a net loss. All this "good" is pointless without love.
Perhaps, then, you can begin to see how important it is to find out exactly what this thing is that we call "love". I mean, if all that "good stuff" that I've described isn't, by definition, love, what is? We'd better get this straight if we're going to do anything good.
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