What About Love?

Poetry is often borne from the passion of finding or losing the love of another. Broken hearts litter the pages of history and romantic novels & movies rake in money. C.S. Lewis in his book, "The Four Loves" writes of God's love, which takes the form of not only the romantic love, but also brotherly love manifested like this:

Unconditional love, manifested like this:



 Friendship or Affection, manifested like this:


What is strange is that we are so apt to throw ourselves, our completed selves (affection, romance, friendship and unconditional and unrequited love) at others whom we deem worthy to receive it. Yet, God, who embodies all aspects of love, is found unworthy of our trust to abandon ourselves to Him.

Here's how that usually ends up:


The few I have spoke with having issues with God often speak of their disdain for God by citing God's 'need' or 'demand' for praise, adoration and worship. If God needed these things from his creatures, then he really isn't worthy of my praise, an acquaintance has written to me on several occasions. Masking the false bravado that often comes with articulation from those who don't believe is, I believe, the underlying inability to trust God.

Abandoning oneself to others isn't a guarded, calculated endeavor. The first scent of love throws us head long into pursuits that leave friends behind, only to find the odor takes the form of booze and smoke, in a bottle called "Broken Heart". Yet, the human mind calculates how much he is to give up in turning his life over to God and assumes it cost too much. Having decided that he will not 'lower' himself to believe, he chases down what he thinks is love while singing old Barry Manilow ballads.

Surely we have thrown ourselves at others in rapture and infatuation, only to find it wasn't reciprocated or if it was reciprocated, it was for only a moment. Eros love, Lewis writes, isn't meant to sustain love, it is only the spark that starts love.Thus, after having the 'experience' numerous times, souls become more guarded to whom they give love. There's only so many starts in an engine, you know. So, the search is ongoing for the gasoline with which to keep the engine running, but the gasoline is the other three loves, unheralded and under appreciated.

We have mistaken the romantic, infatuated affection for something that should be present at all times, or at the very least, some of the time. God has designed us for friendship, which cannot be romantic by it's very nature because it couldn't be sustained. The other three loves Lewis writes about all have components which sustain love, loyalty and faithfulness. Romantic love isn't faithful but for a season as it wanders looking for the next mountain top experience.

Romantic love says it desires what is best for the loved, but that is false. It desires what is good for itself, as it must be fed. If you won't feed it, it will drink from another fountain. It's insatiable, therefore, it is not aligned with faithfulness. However, when working together, in harmony with the other loves, romantic love is a powerful and fulfilling expression of God's love for us, He the pursuer and courter of us. Harnessed by the integrity of the friendship, affection and the unconditional, it thrives.

My point being is that I find people's objections to God are wrapped in some pseudo-intellectual argument that would be more accurate if they said, "I don't trust Him". That's honest. What isn't honest is throwing out red herrings such as "Where did Cain get his wife?" and "I thought there was only one angel but in one gospel it says there were two!". Really? That's your rub with God and his claim on you?

If you're going to filibuster the reality of God, all the while throwing your affections on whomever will receive them, don't be surprised you can't believe. The irony in attempting to be loved by conditional creatures while rejecting the unconditional love is thick. Stop pretending you're smart by refusing to in the "tribal God of Israel" while giving your heart away to those who have proven they cannot be trusted with it.