(Photo by David Castillo Dominici - FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
A handful of years ago I watched a round-table discussion between 3 well-known Christian leaders - Mark Driscoll, Joshua Harris, and Francis Chan. In the process of the discussion, Driscoll asked Chan a question based around the topic of money. He asked if he (Chan) thought that poverty was innately connected to holiness. Chan had given away all the proceeds from his NewYork Times best-seller Crazy Love.
I will never forget Francis Chan's response.
"The core issue has to be love."
He's right, biblically. This is confirmed all throughout the Bible but let me give just a few examines.
1. Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This is a call to the chosen people of Israel on how to live. The basis - hear what is being said, know God, and love Him.
2. John 3:16. This is it. God has no need for us but chose to interact with us, and His interactions with us are rooted in love.
3. 1 Corinthians 13. While this entire chapter is about love, consider how Paul ends this passage. He tells us that 3 things remain - faith, hope, and love - but then he ends by declaring that the greatest of these is love.
4. Galatians 5:6b. This one is not nearly as well-known as the others but once again Paul makes a very strong statement about love, not as merely the greatest thing, but as the only thing that matters in the end.
It's not a particularly hard case to make that love is the ultimate point of The Bible, the Christian faith, and life, but now we've addressed it directly from the Scriptures.
Over the next few posts we will discuss what love truly is and by contrast, what it is not. If love is the ultimate calling for humanity, it serves us well to know what it is and how to do it.
-tC
