Sunday, December 08, 2002
Prioritized Love?
We had a pretty good discussion in our "Applying the Message" class today; I don't think I would have really gotten anything out of the message if I didn't have the opportunity to discuss it afterwards. But right at the end of the class, one of the facilitators said something that really bothered me. He said that it wouldn't please God if we put all of our time and effort into work or church and neglected our families, and that God would want love God first, then our families, then extend that love to friends, and after that to others around us. While I agree that God wouldn't want us to neglect our families, I don't think that God prioritizes love that way--family, friends, and then others--at all. After God, I think that everyone else is equal.
In my English narrative class last year we read a biography about a Buddhist nun ("Cave in the Snow"), and one of the things that struck me was her description of Buddha's love; she said that Buddha's love is like the shine, it shines on everyone equally and impartially. I think that's the way God's love is too. Jesus didn't love his family first, then his disciples, then all the people who sought his help after that, he loved them all the same. Sure I believe that some people can find more favour in God's eyes than others, but I don't think that means that he loves those so favoured any more, or those not favoured any less. In fact, in Luke 6:32-35, it says:
You see, the natural way is to love those who love you--like family and friends--but God's way is to love even those whom you would consider enemies. Another passage that refutes this idea of prioritized love is in Luke 9:59-62:
God was asking them to put strangers, people who hadn't heard about the kingdom of God before their families, and in doing so, they would have shown that they really did put God first. I'm not explaining this well at all, sorry. ^^;;
It's hard though. I mean, I don't think of myself as a very loving person naturally. On my own I have a hard enough time loving relatives who have personality quirks that irritate me, forget about total strangers! It's one of those things where I have these great idealized beliefs, but I know I don't work very hard at translating ideology into practice. I kind of justify it by telling myself that I'm very reserved by nature, so it's logical that I would have a hard time reaching out to people and loving them, but that's a totally invalid argument considering that I'm supposed to be transforming my nature into God's anyway!
You see how it is? I think one of my worst problems is that I look into myself a lot, so I almost always know what the problem is, and how I should try to solve it, but I just don't try. I don't know if it's laziness or apathy or what.
We had a pretty good discussion in our "Applying the Message" class today; I don't think I would have really gotten anything out of the message if I didn't have the opportunity to discuss it afterwards. But right at the end of the class, one of the facilitators said something that really bothered me. He said that it wouldn't please God if we put all of our time and effort into work or church and neglected our families, and that God would want love God first, then our families, then extend that love to friends, and after that to others around us. While I agree that God wouldn't want us to neglect our families, I don't think that God prioritizes love that way--family, friends, and then others--at all. After God, I think that everyone else is equal.
In my English narrative class last year we read a biography about a Buddhist nun ("Cave in the Snow"), and one of the things that struck me was her description of Buddha's love; she said that Buddha's love is like the shine, it shines on everyone equally and impartially. I think that's the way God's love is too. Jesus didn't love his family first, then his disciples, then all the people who sought his help after that, he loved them all the same. Sure I believe that some people can find more favour in God's eyes than others, but I don't think that means that he loves those so favoured any more, or those not favoured any less. In fact, in Luke 6:32-35, it says:
| "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." |
You see, the natural way is to love those who love you--like family and friends--but God's way is to love even those whom you would consider enemies. Another passage that refutes this idea of prioritized love is in Luke 9:59-62:
| [Jesus] said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury the dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." |
God was asking them to put strangers, people who hadn't heard about the kingdom of God before their families, and in doing so, they would have shown that they really did put God first. I'm not explaining this well at all, sorry. ^^;;
It's hard though. I mean, I don't think of myself as a very loving person naturally. On my own I have a hard enough time loving relatives who have personality quirks that irritate me, forget about total strangers! It's one of those things where I have these great idealized beliefs, but I know I don't work very hard at translating ideology into practice. I kind of justify it by telling myself that I'm very reserved by nature, so it's logical that I would have a hard time reaching out to people and loving them, but that's a totally invalid argument considering that I'm supposed to be transforming my nature into God's anyway!
You see how it is? I think one of my worst problems is that I look into myself a lot, so I almost always know what the problem is, and how I should try to solve it, but I just don't try. I don't know if it's laziness or apathy or what.
