The Art of Perfection

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.1 John 4:18  NASB

Perfect love – What does “perfect love” mean to you?  Not Hollywood’s version, I’m sure.  Maybe you think of the ideal bliss of complete vulnerability (or maybe that seems quite scary). Maybe you envision those early days of romance when you just couldn’t stand to be away from your true love. Or maybe it’s broader, involving family, children, your faith.  Each of us probably has some variation of “perfect love,” but the real question is this:  “Does this state of emotional well-being describe you now?”  In order to answer that question, we have to unearth some of John’s vocabulary and assumptions.

Let’s start with the goal: perfect love.  We know the Greek word for “love.”  It’s agápē, an ancient Greek word not in common usage when the apostolic writers took it over and gave it new meaning.  Most of the Greek culture operated with the two words phileín and érōs, especially after Plato associated érōs with the higher spiritual realm of the good, the true, and the beautiful.  Érōs actually has little to do with our idea of erotic.  “[érōs] is the passionate love that desires the other for itself. The god Eros compels all but is compelled by none. In Plato érōssymbolizes fulfillment, in Plotinus desire for union with the one. What is sought in érōs is intoxication or ecstasy. Reflection is good, but ecstatic frenzy, while sometimes viewed with horror, is greater.  érōs masters us and confers supreme bliss thereby.”^[1]  Its counterpoint is phileín, “solicitous love, e.g., of the gods, or of friends” that “embraces all humanity and entails obligation.”^[2]  We can think of this as the bonding of brotherhood, the obligation of family and the common denominator of all human beings.  Notice that the Greek idea of phileín involves obligation, not dissimilar from the Hebrew notion that love of neighbor means personal obligation toward another.  But agápē is different.

Agápē isn’t precisely the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew idea of love.  The Hebrew word is ʾhb (ahav).  It has both religious and secular usage.  “Love in the OT is a spontaneous feeling which impels to self-giving, to grasping that which causes it, or to pleasurable activity. It involves the inner person. Since it has a sexual basis, it is directed supremely to persons; love for things or acts has a metaphorical aspect.”^[3]  In a sense, ahav captures the best part of érōs in combination with the reach and obligation of phileín.  But agápē has a different scope.  Consider its ancient history:

This term has neither the magic of erán [the root of érōs] nor the warmth of phileín.  It has first the weak sense “to be satisfied,” “to receive,” “to greet,” “to honor,” or, more inwardly, “to seek after.” It can carry an element of sympathy, but also denotes “to prefer,” especially with reference to the gods. Here is a love that makes distinctions, choosing its objects freely. Hence it is especially the love of a higher for a lower. It is active, not self-seeking love. Yet in the Greek writers the word is colorless.”^[4]

Agápē became the perfect word for the apostles because they could “color” in its meaning, tailoring it to fit the Hebrew/Jewish message they were trying to communicate in Greek.  All of this begins with Yeshua who took the Hebrew ideas and expressed them with a much greater sense of divine demand.  To love God is to be ruthlessly committed. It is to trust completely, without regard to consequences and without any sense of appeasement.  At the same time, this commitment and trust must be extended to one’s neighbor, who, as Yeshua makes clear, is not necessarily within the scope of phileín.  The obligation extends to the enemy.  Love embraces all.  In the Messiah’s teaching, mercy and reconciliation overflow from love.

John’s letter illuminates this theme for the believing community.  “Love of God is the final reality for the fellowship, and abiding in this love is the law of its life.”^[5]  But if this is true, why does John need the emphasis of “perfect” love? Here he employs téleios, a Greek word that means, “whole” or “complete.”  This word also has a history.  “In philosophy téleios carries the sense of full humanity with an orientation to what is worthwhile and ethically good. In Plato this entails the attainment of insight by recollection and the resultant achievement of true being.”^[6]  You will notice that the Greek development of the word moves in the direction of cognitive perfection, for Man and for the Universe.  But the Jewish Greek of the apostles takes a different road.  It moves in the direction of enhanced, personal involvement and obligation toward others.  The quintessential mark of the believer is full and complete love for another.  “Perfect” love is total dedication.

And so we are back at the question:  “Does this describe you?”  Are there any little corners of your life that aren’t totally dedicated? Any little nagging reminders that you’re holding back just a bit?  Oh, we know God loves us (at least we have the intellectual and theoretical awareness), but does that love penetrate us to the core so that there is nothing left at the center except “Your will be done”?  Or are we afraid?

And now we’re ready to look at more of this verse.  Tomorrow.

Topical Index: love, perfect, téleios, agápē, 1 John 4:18

^[1]Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, p. 7.

^[2]Ibid.

^[3]Ibid.

^[4]Ibid.

^[5]Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, p. 9.

^[6]Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, p. 1164.