Tag-Archive for » agape «

Filling in the Gaps

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 | Author:

And He said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  Matthew 22:37

Love – Does this commandment apply to you today?  Of course it does!  I don’t know anyone in the believing community who would argue that this commandment doesn’t matter any more because grace has set aside all the commandments.  Yeshua cites a verse from Deuteronomy in answer to the question, “Which is the great commandment?”  We all agree that Yeshua’s answer sets the standard for our behavior.

But maybe we need to be reminded about the cultural context of Yeshua’s answer.  Maybe we need to fill in the gaps about what this commandment means in order to understand what it implies about how we act.

We know that the Greek word here is agapeseis, the imperative for demonstrating agape love.  This is the Greek translation of the Hebrew ahavta.  We think we know what this means.  Agape and ahav are about “sacrificial love,” right?  This is benevolence toward another at cost to myself.  Right?  Well, not quite.  You see, while ahav and agape portray “unconditional” love, the expression of this love toward God (and toward men) occurs within the context of hesed.  So, while God’s love toward us is agape-ahav, that unconditional element of love establishes a relationship, a relationship characterized by hesed.  And as we know, hesed is characterized by a bond of loyalty, moral obligation and social relationship.  Hesed is what God does and gives.  It is the context of God’s unconditional love.  It is the framework of our relationship with God.  And it is what God expects of those who are in a relationship with Him (cf. Jeremiah 9:23).  “To experience salvation is to move more deeply within the sphere of divine hesed.”[1]

When we recall the hesed involves essential reciprocity, obligation and community commitment, we realize that our idea of love, even agape, is not adequate.  We don’t think of “love” in terms of moral obligation and social imperative.  We don’t think of “love” as essentially communal.  Our idea of love has been influenced by Greek individualism.  We think that loving God with all our heart, mind and soul is an individual issue, a matter to be accomplished between each one of us and God.  But the context of hesed changes all that.  Hesed reminds me that love is not a feeling or a sentiment.  It is a way of life, lived in a community of mutual loyalty and moral obligation.  Hesed is covenant language, and covenants always involve others.  This is why Yeshua adds, “And the second is like it.”  There is no agape-ahav outside of the context of loyalty and moral obligation to my neighbor.  I cannot love God and withhold hesed from others.  The prophet Hosea tells us that knowing God demands practicing hesed (Hosea 6:6).  James says virtually the same thing.  Faith without works isn’t faith at all.

Can you love God without community obligation?  No, says the Tanakh.  And since Yeshua repeats this commandment, we must conclude that He thought that same thing.  The question before us is not “How shall I love God?” but rather “How do I show hesed toward others?”  Expressing hesed is loving God.  Where do I go to learn what it means to express hesed?  Well, I could start in the text where the word occurs on a regular basis.  I’m pretty sure you can guess where that is.

Topical Index:  hesed, agape, ahav, love, Matthew 22:37, Hosea 6:6, Jeremiah 9:23


[1] Gerald Larue in Nelson Glueck, Hesed in the Bible, p. 17.

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Getting the Greek Out

Friday, July 22nd, 2011 | Author:

“A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” John 13:34  NASB

Love – It won’t be surprising to discover that the Greek word here is agapao.  We would be shocked if it were anything else.  Agape is the kind of love we associate with Yeshua.  But we might not realize just how contrary agape is until we know a little about the history of the Greek ideas of love.

Most Greek literature and Greek philosophy uses the word eros to describe love.  For the Greeks, eros captured an essential characteristic of love – the overwhelming compelling force of this very human experience.  Eros is not about eroticism.  It is about intoxication.  The Greeks recognized that love (eros) was an almost uncontrollable power that swept up a person.  Our contemporary expressions like “love sick” are really derived from this Greek idea.  To be “head over heels” in love is just another way of saying that love’s power turns our world upside-down.  In Greek thought, once eros has overpowered me, I simply don’t have rational control.  My choices are obliterated and I am compelled to pursue this experience of ecstasy.  I am drunk with the experience, addicted to its pleasure.

It only takes a moment to realize how much of our modern culture still pursues and promotes this Greek idea of love.  Movies, books and television portray love like intoxication.  Men and women put aside rational choices in order to follow the pull of love.  “Love is blind” is another way of saying that eros takes charge of us.  And many people spend their lives desiring and pursuing “love potion number 9.”  They want to be drunk.  When they wake up and no longer feel the intoxication, they decide that they need a new partner in order to maintain the experience.

Greek eros finds its way into religion.  Eros in Greek religion is the natural impulse to lift myself out of my pedestrian life and become drunk on God.  There are contemporary parallels here as well.  Christian eros is that form of religion that demands, compels and urges us to experience God, to be drunk on His presence, to put aside the requirements of righteousness in favor of religious euphoria.  This is the Christian desire to be transported out of ourselves and into a mystical union with God.  Leave the world behind and sing love songs to the Most High.  Eros is universal, undifferentiated embrace with the spiritual.

None of this is agape.  Agape is a love that makes distinctions.  Agape is a free and voluntary choice, not a psychic tsunami.  Eros is Man’s impulse to be lifted up to God.  Agape is God’s decision to reach down to Man.  While eros seeks relationships in order to fulfill its own desires for ecstasy, agape exhibits itself in the uncompromising care of others for their sake.  But the principle difference between eros and agape is this:  agape eschews religious eroticism. Agape is love motivated by choice, eros is love motivated by desire.

When Yeshua gave this “new” commandment, He directed his followers toward deliberate choices to care for each other.  He did not ask them to find euphoria in their decisions.  He did not require them to experience thrilling victory or spiritual delight.  He told them to demonstrate disinterested concern; disinterested because it did not depend on reciprocity, concern because it reflected the deliberate will and action of the Father.

Our culture is moving further and further along the Greek road.  Everywhere we find people seeking experiences.  In fact, the seeker-friendly church can only exist in a Greek world since its purpose is to present an attractive experience of God.  Seeker-friendly churches provide a taste of intoxication.  But only a taste.  You have to join in order to pursue drunkenness.

Yeshua, on the other hand, doesn’t offer intoxication.  He offers commitment to a way of life that requires deliberate, considered actions – actions that are always under the control of Torah and are redemptive.

Perhaps we need to reconsider which path we are walking.  Are we looking for the next intoxicating experience with God (or with anyone else) or are we walking a path of deliberate choices that bless others?

Topical Index:  love, eros, agape, John 13:34

 

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How He Loves

Monday, March 15th, 2010 | Author:

“He who has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.” John 14:21

Will Love – We could spend some time looking at this verse from the perspective of obedience.  We could examine what it means to keep Yeshua’s commandments.  We could look at the connection between keeping them and experiencing the Father’s love.  But before we do any of that, there is something even more precious here.  It is the love of Yeshua for us.

“ and I will love him.”  In Greek, kago agapeso auton.  The sentence is emphatic.  I will love him.  There can be no doubt about this.  No matter what my daily experience or situation, Yeshua declares His love for me as a matter of absolute fact.  It is His personal guarantee.

What kind of love is this?  The verb form here means this is a fact of future action.  You will recognize the root agape.  It is love that seeks the benefit of another at cost to the one who loves.  It is self-sacrifice on behalf of someone else.  It’s not about feelings, calculations or duty.  It’s about personal total commitment.

Why would Yeshua guarantee such action?  After all, this kind of commitment weathers every storm.  It doesn’t matter if I am up or down, this love doesn’t fail.  So, why would He make this promise to me?  I’m not always the kind of person who merits love.  I often fail.  I betray others.  I lie.  Sometimes I take advantage.  But Yeshua assures me that none of that will interfere with His commitment to me, as long as I am pursuing as best I can the keeping of His commandments.

Heschel says, “In the eyes of the world, I repeat, I am an average man.  But in my heart I am not an average man.  To my heart I am of great moment.  The challenge I face is how to actualize, how to concretize the quiet eminence of my being.” [1] That is the secret to Yeshua’s love.  He does not see us as just average men and women.  He sees the great, quiet eminence of our being.  He sees us as we are designed to be.  Nobility disguised in ordinary flesh and blood.  And because He sees us as we could be seen, He loves us in order that we might be manifest as He sees us.  We are precious in His sight.

This is the greatest fact of the universe.  Not only did God create all there is in order that we might walk with Him, He brought all this into being because we matter most to Him.  His Son proclaims that most important fact of all existence.  “I will love you.”  That is the final and absolute endorsement of who I am.  I am loved by God manifest in the flesh.   Nothing can undermine my worth.  He has spoken.

Topical Index:  love, agape, self-worth, John 14:21

[1] Abraham Heschel, Who Is Man?, p. 35.

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Kingdom Ethics

Saturday, September 05th, 2009 | Author:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you,” John 13:34

Love – Why does Yeshua say this is a new commandment? Doesn’t the Torah teach us to love one another? Isn’t that the point of loving your neighbor? What makes this particular statement so unique?

Christians have often cited this verse as the basis for an ethical principle. They have claimed that the New Testament is no longer based on Jewish legislated morality but on an eternal principle of moral action. That principle is love for each other. But this presents a problem. Childs makes the observation, “The biblical narratives are not a collection of teachings on virtue, character, and morality. In fact, the Bible amazes us by its remarkable indifference to our conceptions of good and evil. Rather its chief concern is not the doing of man, but of God. ‘It is not the right human thought about God which forms the content of the Bible, but the right divine thoughts about man’ (Barth, 43).” In other words, the Bible is not man’s attempt to develop an appreciation of the divine or a code of ethics based on the divine. The Bible is God’s thoughts about us! Attempts to derive ethical principles from the Bible miss the point. The Bible is not about ethical principles. It’s about God’s view of the human condition.

How does this insight help us? First, it corrects all attempts to come up with some kind of universal moral directive – like “love each other.” It’s popular to say that the hallmark of Christian living is love, but this is a mistake. Why? It’s a mistake because it strips away the context of life in the Spirit. It holds up an independent principle not anchored in God’s personal interaction with us. Principles of ethics are Greek-based concepts derived from human reason about what is good, but the Hebrew Scriptures are not about principles. They are about a living, dynamic, personal relationship – a relationship that has ebbs and flows, that weaves its way into all sorts of human activities and that isn’t always so neat and organized. The Scriptures are stories and thoughts about concrete, real-life events woven into the fabric of God’s interactions with us. The Bible, as Childs says, is remarkable in its indifference to our categories of right and wrong, good and evil. For example, why create the Tree? The Bible is about God’s point of view, not ours – and it does not accommodate our trivial questions.

Secondly, by recognizing that “love” is not a principle, but an event-relationship, we see that Yeshua’s new commandment is the extension of God’s point of view. “As I have loved you,” qualifies what was already there. I already knew that God loves. He loves me and He loves my neighbor. I already had Leviticus 19:18. But now I discover that God’s love embraces self-sacrifice on behalf of others. It is more than benevolence. It is costly benevolence, in character with the Son who died for me. When I find myself in relationship with Him, I realize that my life becomes an expression of His life. And so does my death. There are no limits on what God would do to rescue me. There can be no limits on what I will do to rescue you. It’s not quite as simple as WWJD, is it?

Topical Index: love, agape, ethics, principles, relationship, John 13:34, Leviticus 19:18

B. Childs, Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments, p. 679.

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Bendito Sea El Vínculo

Thursday, May 21st, 2009 | Author:

Yo, pues, prisionero del Señor, os ruego que viváis de una manera digna de la vocación con que habéis sido llamados, con toda humildad y mansedumbre, con paciencia, soportándoos unos a otros en amor, esforzándoos por preservar la unidad del Espíritu en el vínculo de la paz. Efesios 4:1-3


Vínculo - Veamos. ¿Cómo va esa canción? “Bendito sea el nudo que ata nuestros corazones en el amor cristiano, la comunión de mentes conformadas es similar a eso arriba.” No, ¿verdad que no es así? La letra en la canción no es “conformada.”  Es “afín.”  Pero la tratamos como si quiere decir “conforme, ¿no es así? Creemos que esa canción, y este versículo en Efesios, deben significar que todas las personas deben ser iguales. Por eso vamos  a la iglesia – para estar con personas como nosotros.

Aparentemente, no hemos comprendido el punto principal de ágape. Preferimos manifestar el amor fileo – el amor hacia las personas que nos caen bien. Pero el amor ágape es el paradigma del amor por los enemigos. Es amor para quienes no son como nosotros. Ese es el amor de Dios – el amor de aquellos que se oponen a Él. ¿Qué nos sucedió a nosotros? ¿Cómo fue que convertimos el conformismo en la medida del amor cristiano? No exhibimos la unión del vínculo de paz. Exhibimos la unión de la restricción en doctrina.

Pablo utiliza el término griego sundemos. La raíz detrás de esta palabra es la combinación de sun (juntos) con deo (atar). ¿Ves la imagen? ¡Debemos atarnos juntos en nuestra búsqueda de unidad en el Espíritu en paz! Desafortunadamente, frecuentemente los cristianos actuamos como si hemos sido unidos en un argumento. Para Pablo, la paz significaba shalom, esa palabra hebrea que comprende toda una persona en el mundo. Es la expresión quintaesencial del bienestar. Eso es lo que desea Pablo. El desea seguidores del Camino tan comprometidos al bienestar de los unos con los otros que se apresuren a ofrecerse a sí mismos en servicio a los demás. El desea que el carácter del Dios ágape sea tan evidente que nada se oponga en el sacrificio por otro. El desea que nos muramos en nuestros propios intereses y vivamos como ejemplos de nuestro Amo.

¿Significa esto que la teología no importa? ¡Claro que no! Sin duda alguna, Pablo fue el teólogo más extraordinario de su época. El hizo todo lo posible por ayudar a otros a comprender la verdad del Mesías. Pero ¿de qué sirve la teología correcta si la utilizamos para cercenar el vínculo que une? Nunca he conocido hombre alguno que se convierte al cristianismo en base de un argumento intelectual.  Ni Yeshua mismo parece darle mucho esfuerzo al argumento de la teología apropiada. En vez de eso, sanó enfermos, restauró al perturbado, confortó al doliente y dio de comer a los hambrientos. Sangro por los rebeldes y murió por la salvación de Sus enemigos. ¿Tuvo la teología correcta? ¡Claro que sí! Pero pareciera que el único que le preocupaba en cuanto a lo teológicamente  correcto era el Padre. Todos los demás eran beneficiarios directos de amor ágape – el amor para aquellos que no eran como EL.

Existe un mundo de diferencia entre la conformidad y la compatibilidad. La conformidad dice, “Se como soy yo.” La compatibilidad dice, “ahora veamos cómo podemos estar juntos así como somos.” La conformidad me hace Dios. La compatibilidad deja de Dios sea Dios para cada uno de nosotros. La conformidad dice, “Estamos bajo la gracia, pero tú debes hacer las cosas a mi manera. La compatibilidad desplaza el enfoque de la relación hacia mi apreciación de la soberanía de Dios. Mi relación contigo se basa en mi compromiso a ti, sin importar las diferencias, porque confío en que Dios sabe cómo resolver todo esto.

Entonces, ¿Cómo está tu vínculo de compromiso ágape? ¿Te aceleras hacia la paz?

Pronto descontinuaremos la versión gratuita de La Palabra de Hoy. Si deseas saber por qué lo hacemos,  cómo contribuir, o deseas unirte a la comunidad de suscriptores, presiona aquí.


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Blessed Be The Tie

Thursday, May 21st, 2009 | Author:

Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, exhort you to walk worthily of the calling in which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love; being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1

Bond – Let’s see. How does that song go? “Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love, the fellowship of conformed minds is like to that above.” No, that’s not quite right, is it? The word in the song isn’t “conformed.” It’s “kindred.” But we treat it as if it means “conformed,” don’t we? We think that this song, and this verse from Ephesians, must mean that everyone has to be the same. That’s why we go to church – so we can be with people who are just like us.

Apparently we have missed the point of agape. We would rather display phileo love – the love of people that we like. But agape love is the paradigm of love for enemies. It is love for those who are not like us. That’s God’s love – the love of those who were opposed to Him. What happened to us? Why have we made conformity the measure of Christian love? We aren’t exhibiting a bond of unity in peace. We are exhibiting a bond of restriction in doctrine.

Paul uses the Greek term sundesmos. The root behind this word is the combination of sun (together) and deo (to bind). Do you see the picture? We are to be tied together in our quest for unity in the Spirit in peace! Unfortunately, Christians often act as though they are tied together in argument. For Paul, peace meant shalom, that Hebrew word that encompasses the whole of a person in the world. It is the quintessential expression of well-being. That’s what Paul wants. He wants followers of the Way to be so committed to each other’s well-being that they speedily rush to offer themselves in service for another. He wants the character of the agape God to be so evident that nothing stands in the way of sacrifice for another. He wants us to be dead to our own agendas and alive to the example of our Master.

Does that mean that theology doesn’t matter? Of course not! Paul was undoubtedly the greatest theologian of his time. He did all he could to help others understand the truth of the Messiah. But what good is correct theology if it is used to cut the tie that binds? I have never yet met a man who came to Christ on the basis of an intellectual argument. Yeshua Himself didn’t seem to put much effort into arguing for proper theology. Instead, He healed the sick, restored the disturbed, comforted the grieving and fed the hungry. He bled for the rebellious and died for the salvation of His enemies. Did He have the right theology? Absolutely! But it seems that the only one He was concerned about when it came to theological correctness was the Father. All others were the direct beneficiaries of agape – love for those not like Him.

There is a world of difference between conformity and compatibility. Conformity says, “Be just like me.” Compatibility says, “Let’s see how we can be together just like we are.” Conformity makes me God. Compatibility lets God be God for each of us. Conformity says, “We’re under grace, but you have to do it my way.” Compatibility says, “Grace means I trust God to guide us both as He sees fit.” Conformity takes the risk out of relationship. That’s why it is so tempting. Compatibility recognizes that God can be trusted even when we don’t think the same way. Compatibility shifts the focus of the relationship from my view to God’s sovereignty. My relationship to you is based on my commitment to you, no matter how much we are different, because I trust that God knows how to work this all out.

So, how’s your agape commitment bond doing? Are you speeding toward peace?

Topical Index: bond, bind, sundesmos, conformity, compatibility, agape, Ephesians 4:1

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Día 2 – Fenomenal

Thursday, April 16th, 2009 | Author:

Porque no nos ha dado Dios espíritu de cobardía, sino de poder, de amor y de dominio propio. (2Ti 1:7)

Amor – Todos sabemos que la palabra “Amor” cubre multitud de sentimientos y acciones. El griego tiene cuatro palabras diferentes para explicarlo. El hebreo tiene tres palabras. Pero el factor más importante para comprender las palabras de Pablo no está en el número de diferentes palabras. Para comprender la proclamación Paulina del don de Dios, tenemos que ingresar la mente hebrea. Y eso requiere la suspensión de presuposiciones antiguas sobre el mundo como nosotros lo conocemos.

La gran diferencia entre el griego y el hebreo es la manera en que el idioma percibe la realidad. El griego ve la realidad como piezas organizadas. Es el idioma del análisis, la descomposición de cada nuevo elemento en piezas más y más pequeñas. Cuando ingresas la perspectiva griega, ves el mundo como la suma de las partes. Para comprender algo, debes escarbar desde la superficie y descubrir todas las partes internas. Así que el “amor” en griego se desarticula en partes separadas: amor por hermanos y amigos, amor por la familia e hijos, amor por las cosas y el amor por Dios.

Pero el hebreo no ve las cosas de esta manera. El hebreo es in idioma fenomenal. Describe el mundo de la manera en que lo percibe el observador. Como resultado, el amor se define por las emociones, las decisiones, las consecuencias y las actividades. Para el hebreo, el amor no es una serie de elementos discretos, sino mas bien toda la pletora de emociones espontaneas, las decisiones y acciones, sin darle importancia a su manifestación hacia la humanidad. Ahora tienes solo un atisbo de por qué el Antiguo Testamento levanta analogías constantes entre el sexo y la adoración. Ambos son parte del continuum del concepto hebreo del “amor.”

Y entonces, ¿Por qué es importante esto? Porque Pablo es hebreo. Cuando escoge la palabra griega ágape, no piensa en la categoría exclusiva del amor religioso usualmente adscrito a ágape. De hecho, los autores del Nuevo Testamento usualmente utilizaron ágape en maneras novedosas, sin confiar en la definición griega clásica. Para comprender a Pablo, es necesario que pensemos como hebreos. Eso quiere decir que Pablo señala a su audiencia hacia el alcance completo del espíritu del amor, desde los sentimientos apasionados espontáneos hasta la nobleza de la obediencia. En cualquier emoción u acción humana que toca el corazón del Dios personal, tú y yo vivimos la experiencia del amor. Puedo encontrarlo igual de fácilmente en el abrazo de mi conyugue como en la lucha contra la injusticia entre los pobres. El amor del Antiguo Testamento es celoso pero se niega a sí mismo. Es exclusivo pero abraza a todos. Es incondicional pero intensamente emocional. Se sacrifica pero igual se interesa por sí mismo.

La palabra hebrea, ahav, es una palabra fenomenal (¡el humor es intencional!). Si quieres encontrar el espíritu del amor, no corras al psicoanalista. No te preocupes escarbando tus pensamientos internos. Solo observa la humanidad tocada por Dios. Veràs todo lo que necesitas saber sobre ahav. Ese es el punto, ¿no es así? Cuando lo veo, entonces se lo que debo hacer. Es por eso que veo a Jesús cuando necesito ver amor fenomenal.

Índice Tópico: Amor

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