Love as Resistance

G.K. Chesterton once said, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and not tried.”

Why is it difficult? Because the foundation of Christianity is supposed to be love. People found this too difficult, and the church morphed into believing its real purpose was to get people into heaven based primarily on what they believe in (ie – Jesus Christ as my personal lord and savior). Love, the kind Jesus was talking about and living, is HARD. Really, really hard.

There is a difference between love as a feeling and love as an. When love is a feeling, one feels things like affection, devotion, passion, desire, emotional connection, warmth, enjoyment, certainty. When love is an action it looks like commitment, respect, protection, justice, acceptance, understanding, support, sacrifice, resistance, welcome, equality, honesty and more.

When you feel love for someone, ideally you will act accordingly. Often love is seen as something between individuals and is limited to our families and friends. I know someone who visibly balks every time I suggest that spiritually we’re called to love everyone, because to her that means a commitment to feed, clothe, take them into your home, etc.

I really don’t think that is what Jesus had in mind when he said, “Love one another as I have loved you.”

The example he set was much bigger than how to treat your family. His example was a social love. And the hallmark of that love was justice.

Dr. Cornel West once said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.”

For Jesus, love was a social phenomenon. It was a love ethic that understood that all people have the right to be free, safe, and to live fully and well. Even more than an idea or an ethic, it was an action! He wasn’t asking the disciples to feel how he felt about others, he was asking them to treat others the way he treated others. Whatever you do to the least of these you do to me. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love one another as I have loved you. This is scary stuff. This means things might need to change. To follow me, Jesus said, you need to walk the talk.

Bell Hooks, in her book “All About Love” shared this example about walking the talk:

“If you go door to door in our nation and talk to citizens about domestic violence, almost everyone will insist that they do not support male violence against women, that they believe it to be morally and ethically wrong. However, if you then explain that we can only end male violence against women by challenging patriarchy, and that means no longer accepting the notion that men should have more rights and privileges than women because of biological difference or that men should have the power to rule over women, that is when the agreement stops. There is a gap between the values they claim to hold and their willingness to do the work of connecting thought and action, theory and practice to realize these values and thus create a more just society.”

Talk is cheap. Action is a commitment, but that’s what Jesus asked for: a commitment to social love.

Derrick Jensen, environmentalist and author, was once asked, “Why are you an activist?” To which he replied, “Because I’m in love. With salmon, with trees outside my window, with baby lampreys living in sandy stream bottoms, with slender salamanders crawling through the duff. And if you love, you act to defend your beloved. Of course results matter to you, but they don’t determine whether or not you make the effort. You don’t simply hope your beloved survives and thrives. You do what it takes. If my love doesn’t cause me to protect those I love, it’s not love.”

If love doesn’t strive to protect, it isn’t love. If love doesn’t respect, it isn’t love. If love doesn’t seek to heal and bring wholeness, it isn’t love. If love doesn’t seek understanding, it isn’t love. If love doesn’t see the sacred worth of the other, it isn’t love. If love votes against what is best for all people, it isn’t love. If love keeps silent in the face of oppressive powers, it is not love.

Diana Butler Bass wrote recently, “Love-directed faith is radical, especially right now. Mercy, grace, kindness, goodness — these things are not just some sort of head-in-the-sand, go-along-to-get-along… nothing-to-see here quiescence. Nope. Love is upsetting. Mercy is maddening. Following Jesus’ teachings is literally scary.”

Jesus’ call to love one another was mind-blowing resistance to the powers of their time. And if we’re to follow Jesus today, it is the same call. If we are to love others as a social phenomenon, as a love ethic then this is not whether you’re voting red or blue, this is about a moral, ethical, spiritual call to do what is right by all people.

Sen. Cory Booker ended his now infamous filibuster speech on April 1 with these words:

It is time to heed the words of the man I began this whole thing with: John Lewis. I beg folks to take his example of his early days when he made himself determined to show his love for his country at a time the country didn’t love him, to love this country so much, to be such a patriot that he endured beatings, savagely, on the Edmund Pettus bridge, at lunch counters, on freedom rides. He said he had to do something. He would not normalize a moment like this. He would not just go along with business as usual.

These times are not normal, and we cannot normalize them. We may feel overwhelmed at times, hopeless at times, faithless at times. But love… love endures… love bears all things.  Don’t give up on love, no matter how scary it may be to live love. Love resists injustice. Love conquers hate. Love reveals falsehoods. Love gives courage and strength. Don’t give up on love. Instead, love relentlessly.