For some time, I have been bothered by the sign outside the Hillcrest church with the rainbow-colored doors. Seeing as this is Christmas Day and Christian churches are supposed to celebrate Christ, I take this opportunity to correct the record.
“Love is love is all you need” is not true. Correction: it is a lie.
Jesus’ teaching is unequivocally clear: we live for the sake of others. That is love. Love is sacrifice. For example, John 15:13: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”.
Similarly, Matt. 22:37-40: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets”.
Further examples are numerous and consistent: Love is an act of giving. Action equates responsibility—and accountability—which is the underlying theme behind all Christ’s parables. Read them. Consider Matthew 25, which parables are the 10 maidens (only half of which brought enough oil for their lamps); the talents (given to servants to invest; one does not); the Lord’s judgement (of those who were generous and those who were not).
Nowhere in the Bible—and I quote here from the Revised Standard Version—will you find “love is love”. People do attribute “God is love” to Jesus, but he never says this. The phrase appears only twice in the entire scripture—both times in 1 John 4.
No Christian church should be promoting: “Love is love is all you need”, unless the message is something like “Selfish love is all you need”. “Live for yourself and God will forgive all your sins”. Good luck with that.
Jesus’ teaching distills simply to this: Love God, love others. Perhaps, that is all you need. Merry Christmas!
I used Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to capture the Featured Image on Oct. 31, 2023. Vitals: f/2.4, , ISO 50, 1/1900 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 1:48 p.m. PDT. I make no apology about muting the rainbow colors during post-production. The change is absolutely appropriate.