"'What's Love Got To Do With It?'

Whenever we think of February, almost unbeknownst to us, Valentine’s Day comes to mind. This is a great opportunity for us to think about the importance of love in our own lives and in the life of the church. Without a doubt, love is an essential ingredient in the recipe of the church.
Tina Turner once asked, in that popular song from the 90's; "What’s love got to do with it?" In answer to her question, when it comes to the church, love’s got everything to do with it. In fact, someone once said; "The gospel can be summed up in just two words: ‘Everybody’s Loved!’" Love is the basis of our faith! It is the foundation upon which the gospel is built. It is the motivation behind God’s plan of salvation and the church’s responsibility of evangelizing and stewardship. Without love there is no Christianity! Without love there is no gospel – good news. So, perhaps, we should be singing the lyrics to that famous Beetles song; "All you need is love, love – love is all you need!" When we proclaim this, we are proclaiming something much more profound and theological then we often realize. We are proclaiming, in essence, "All you need is God, God – God is all you need!" "God is love," the apostle John reminds us. God doesn’t define love, he doesn’t represent love – God IS love! One of the most profound thoughts I’ve heard is "wherever love is, God is!" Wherever love is manifested, expressed, shared or lived out - God is there!
As I mentioned in our Bible Study the other week. The English language is sometimes limiting. For instance, the word "love," in the English language is used to describe our feelings for a host of things from food, to music, to television, to the special people in our lives, to the church and God! In fact, the word "love" is perhaps the most overused word in the English language. The Greeks have several words to describe the levels or degrees of their love. For instance, there is the word philia to describe "brotherly love" or "friendships". There is the word eros to describe an intimate relationship. And finally, there is the word agape to describe a supreme love - a sacrificial love.
This highest form of love - agape is a word that was rarely used in Greek literature prior to the New Testament. When it was used, it denoted showing kindness to strangers, giving hospitality, and being charitable. In the New Testament, the word agape took on a special meaning: it was used by the New Testament writers to... love as opposed to the purely emotional kind of love as philia and eros. Agape is a self-sacrificial love, a kind naturally expressed by God but not so easily by men or women.
Love is the most essential quality and one of the major characteristics in the Christian community. It is what sets us apart as God’s people. It is one of the major attributes that labels us a child of God and it is vital that we as God’s people possess this love. It is only through Christ that this love is obtained, for it is when we allow Christ to be manifested in us that his love becomes a spring in us. Do you have this kind of love? Do you possess and share this love? Does it flow from your life?
Jeremy Taylor writes; "Love is the greatest thing that God can give us; for He Himself is love; and it is the greatest thing we can give to God [and one another]."
Let us pray that God’s love will be renewed and lived out in each of us. That we will share that love with those whom we meet - that "by our love they will know we are Christians." I want to encourage you to look for ways in which you can share God’s love perhaps through visiting, calling or even sending a card to someone who might need a word of encouragement. It is important that we allow the love of God the be felt by EVERYONE who walks through the doors of Edgemont and EVERYONE we meet! Love is the most powerful and effective form of evangelism.