During a recent talk, a friend offered quite the thought provoker: “God is love, but love is not always God.”
“God is love.” Yes, I concur. “But love is not always God.” Is this really true?
This seems like an awkwardly counterintuitive phrase. Most of us probably would agree that God is love, but does love always indicate that God is actively and affirmingly present? Are there any examples in the Bible that decisively answer this question?
I had mentally filed this away with other thoughts accumulated and items pending. But it soon resurfaced, and the answers began waving at me from the pages of my Bible and daily coincidences.
Solomon: A king’s love life
First Kings 11:1–4 (NIV) provides a vivid portrait of love in King Solomon’s life. Here are some snapshots of his story:
“King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women…” (v. 1)
“Solomon held fast to them in love…” (v. 2)
“As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God.” (v. 4)
Here, we observe that the world’s wisest and wealthiest king had a downfall. Solomon’s undoing was love. He “held fast” to this love, and it led him astray. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for love in this passage refers not only to human love but also to God’s love towards man. Solomon’s love was
genuine and authentic. His affections and desires were powerful and compelling. But following the course of this love, he “turned his heart after other gods.” Ultimately, Solomon fell in love with love but out of love with God Himself.
God is love, but as shown in the life of Solomon, the bottom line is drawn: Love is not always God.
Demas: Worldly love
Paul recounts to his spiritual son Timothy the events surrounding his missions trip: “..for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.” (2 Timothy 4:10, NIV)
Demas was one of Paul’s traveling companions who “deserted” him due to love.—the love of the world no less. But doesn’t God our Father love the world? Why is Paul accusing Demas of deserting him?
The story goes like this: Life was challenging for Paul and his associates, and when the going got tough, Demas got going! I must confess that I am haunted by this little-known missionary who’s remembered for throwing in the towel. It makes me ask myself how I would react if I were faced with the constant threat of beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks and so forth? Demas was not loving the ministry, so he went after something he loved more: materialistic comforts—a life in the world.
Demas’ infamous choice made the crux of the matter clear: God is always going after love, but love is not always going after God.
Lovers of self without love
Paul paints a bleak picture of the world in the “last days”:
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (2 Timothy 3:2–4, NIV, emphasis added)
Ironically, it seems as if there is a great deal of “love” being spread around—love of self, love of money, love of pleasure. But emphatically, Paul reveals that all of this love has nothing to do with God. In fact, the people mentioned in Paul’s letter are unwittingly “without love” and evidently are not “lovers of God.” The visceral surge of human love or the long-lasting affection for others, objects or pursuits provokes men and women to euphoric feats or melancholy laments. It inspires poetry and playwrights, paintings and prose. We can all see how the world revels in love. Paradoxically, Jesus pointed out that the world essentially hated Him (see John 15:18).
God is love, but in Paul’s letter to Timothy and in Christ’s repudiation by the world, the message is clear: Love is not always God.
“All you need is love”
John Lennon fashioned those words into well-known lyrics, but Jesus demonstrated them. Jesus is the only authority concerning love. He gave up everything that was rightly His to gather many more children for His Father.
Everything He did was motivated by love for someone else. Jesus was not clinging to self gratification, love of pleasure, love of money or love of His own life. For Jesus, love did not win, but love lost. He demonstrated delayed gratification for the ultimate gain: relationship.
It is no surprise Jesus taught that all of the law and the prophets are fulfilled by simply loving our neighbors and loving God (see Matthew 22:36–40). Love is paramount within the Christian life. There is simply no getting away from it.
However, a profession of love is not a hallway pass in the corridors of Christianity. The love of Christ is sacred and sacrificial. But, the presence of “love” in the course of human life and emotion does not automatically equal the activity of God.
In other words—and to affirm my friend’s statement is indeed true—God is love, but love is not always God.