Thoughts on What Love Looks Like? by Akele Parnell

I think Dr. Cornel West statement that “justice is what love looks like in public” is becoming a sort of manifesto for those who feel passionate about engaging in a sort of love for ones neighbor that acts on behalf of those in need. West has been quoted in places as diverse as TEDS Chapel, the movie Call and Response, and CNN. But, how do we know what love is? Theologians may continue to debate about what all love entails, yet, I think we have at least one clear and definitive statement as to what love looks like in public. In 1 John 3:11 we learn that, “By this we know love, that he (Christ) laid down his life for us.” It is at the cross of Christ that we find the clearest and most definitive statement of what love is and what it looks like in public. The event of Christ death for our sins is the clearest definition of what love is, and it is the lens through which we view all other deeds of love.

Yet, the writer does not end there, he goes on to conclude that as Christ “laid down his life for us, we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” I believe that all out-workings of love, compassion ministry, social justice, serving your community—being a neighbor to your neighbor, or whatever it is called in your context, flow from the transformative power of the cross of Christ. It is also my conviction that this has been the view of the Faithalive community from its inception. Further, this outworking, which shows radical love and compassion for ones neighbor, is one, if not the clearest sign we find in scripture that one is a follower of Jesus Christ, after the confession of faith in Christ. I could proof text this till I’m blue in the face to prove this point, but I think the concept is clear.

So how do we move from this definition of love, into actual acts of faith and love. This part is not always so simple, yet, we have somewhere to begin. We start, when in response to Christ death for us, we “lay down our lives for our brothers.” This will certainly take different forms in different situations but the underlying principle is always the same; we love because Christ first loved us. He poured out his life for us, and by the power of the Holy Spirit we are empowered to live as he lived and love as he loved. Moving from Christ love for us, evidenced and defined by his death on the cross, we proceed onto our love for others. From there into an engagement of issues we understand as related to social justice.

Unfortunately, the tendency for many is to bifurcate our expressions of love. It is my personal view, that the Bible does not allow us to bifurcate our concern for people’s souls and their physical bodies. We should understand the significance of each, however, to say that we care for the soul and show little to no concern for the body, would be to lie, and vice versa. A similar principle is communicated in 1 John 4:20 “for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen”—although this verse is not juxtaposing concern for ones eternal salvation with the physical body, it is describing a principle of lived love, in reaction to the “seen,” that is, the physical with the “unseen,” that is, the spiritual. Equally, we could mention that we should not “fear those who kill the body but can’t kill the soul”— although that verse is in the context of persecution and directed to the believer’s concern for his own life, not love for others—yet, the same principle applies. Nonetheless, it is my opinion that if a person does not care that a person who is going through hell, I find it difficult to believe they actually care whether or not the person is actually going to Hell. Often times, the lack of one is evidence of the absence of the other.

Many feel the balance between the spiritual and the physical may not always be kept in easy balance, to some extent this may be true, yet it may depend on the lessons you draw from history and how you understand history. My own personal view is that this view is more of a false dichotomy and the result of faulty, simplistic historicizing than the demonstration of a solid historical trend. Nonetheless, the fact that the conversation must be had, is evidence of some tension.

I am glad that we as a community can continue to be challenged, as we should be, to search the scriptures in order to be faithful to Christ and the Gospel. This is not always an easy task and it is often times uncomfortable, still, we must continue. Let us defend what is of first importance, as if all depended on it. At the same time, if we truly love that which is most important, all else will fall in line—or at least I like to think so. Yet, if it has not, we must humble ourselves, repent and go back to the message of the cross and pray that it would penetrate our hearts, not just our minds.