This Love

Proverb 6: 16

There are six things that the Lord hates, even seven that are disgusting to him.

Hate is not something Christians talk about or dwell in. However, even God hates a few things and I fear I have experienced a similar emotion.

A couple of weeks ago I was riding a bicycle class at the gym. These classes are set to music. The last song of the ride was What’s Love Got to Do with It by Tina Turner. It is a well known song but definitely has a dark side.  Most of the song consists of this lyric:

Oh-oh, what’s love got to do, got to do with it?
What’s love but a second-hand emotion?
What’s love got to do, got to do with it?
Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?

Now, this is not a criticism of Tina Turner or even the songwriters but what kind of society do we live in that over 30 years after its release we are still singing such a horrid lyric? The person leading the bike class said, “Oh, I love this song.” Wow, that’s kind of oxymoronic, isn’t it? How can we believe in love at any level and accept such a denunciation of it?

You can empathize with someone who has been hurt and thus can relate to the song, but hopefully that person heals and comes to understand the soullessness of the song, even to despise the lack of faith and belief in love or even the possibility of love.

The song is about having sex with another person and the imperative not to let love enter into the exchange. How many things are wrong in that? I can say, I really do hate this song. It has a good beat and lures you into singing it but that day I wanted to get off my bike and leave the room. I simply cannot stand this song any longer. What does love have to do with it? Absolutely everything and that is what I answer, aloud, when I hear the song. And I did that day as well. You don’t want to be around me because I am going to push back. I am not going to let songs and lyrics like this poison my spirit, a spirit which, by the way, is sanctioned in love. The spirit which is within me was born in love, created by love.

We all get hurt and probably more of us than would like to admit can relate to Tina Turner’s song, but I hope she has found reason to sing a new song, a better song as I know we have. Love sent Jesus to earth for us. The more you intertwine your life with Jesus, the more the world becomes a strange place to live. It becomes harder to turn a deaf ear to language and ideas that are in direct contradiction with everything our Father is.

Let me get theological for just one moment. If that song is diametrically opposed to what our God is and what our Lord teaches, what is its source? Obviously, God had nothing to do with the writing of this song. Was it just damaged people expressing worldly ideas? Or is there more to it? I don’t know the answer, but it does make one wonder because this song undermines so much of what we believe in. Generations of children have grown up with this lyric. What has it done to their impressionable spirits? It has sown seeds of promiscuity and for denying the importance and power of love.

Love is the greatest force in the universe. He, Love, created this earth and all the stars in the heavens. He sent His beloved to this broken, decaying world to save all the silly little humans who live here so that we would not spend eternity in the lake of fire. There is so much more though. He, Love, is alive and well right now here on planet earth. He is here to live with us, to heal our broken hearts and to help us live better lives. He mends our spirits and restores us simply because that is what love does. Whatsmore, love is doing just that every day of the year. He will move into any heart that will have Him and heal the broken parts. He will give us as much healing and love as we will allow.

What’s love got to do with it? Absolutely everything . . . and everything meaningful is born of love.

Living Long

Psalm 55: 23

But Thou, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in Thee.

So, do you want to live a long life? Well, there is a hidden pearl of wisdom here. Men of deceit will not live out half their days. Ouch!! Now you see what is happening to the life span. Honesty has life in it. Deceit carries death with it. 

Deceit is interesting. I think of deceit primarily as not telling the truth but that really does not represent the thrust of the definition. According to the New American Heritage Dictionary deceit is misrepresentation, deception. It is characterized by trickiness and falseness. Deceitful means: Given to cheating or deceiving, misleading or deceptive. Some of the words associated with this idea are deceive, betray, mislead, beguile, delude, dupe, hoodwink, bamboozle, outwit, and double-cross. So what is the point? 

Deceit is not simply telling a lie. That is part of it, of course, but the greater part of deceit is to be intentionally misleading. One could tell a truth then, answer a question true technically and yet mislead the hearer. This deception is often seen in how we couch our facts. It is deceitful to represent the facts in a way which best paints the picture you want perceived when you know it is not really truthful. It is a twisting of the truth in order to mislead someone. This is a manipulation of the truth and of the person being addressed. It is reprehensible to God and will limit the number of days of the speaker. Just ponder this for a moment. We have all seen this and some of us even been guilty of it. We speak what is 10% true and leave out the other 90% of the truth because we do not like how it reflects on us or that it won’t bring about the desired result. I have watched people completely reframe an event in order to look guiltless. They will argue they did not lie because they spoke a bit of the truth but the reality is that in cloaking the greater part of the truth they are attempting to deceive someone. Now I want you to search your gut at this moment and see if you can tell how incensed this makes God. “There are six things which the Lord hates, yes seven which are an abomination to Him” (Proverb 6: 16). Out of the seven two are about not being truthful. This deceitfulness is right in the middle of all that God hates. I am guessing that is not where we want to hang out.

Jesus is truth. We are called to be the people of Jesus, therefore people of truth. It is a slap in God’s face when we mischaracterize something even it if is not a bald-face lie. In the eyes of our Father it is exactly the same thing. And why do people lie and deceive? In the end of things it is because they do not trust the Lord, their God. How much more can we insult God? Do you want to live a long and fruitful life? Be people of the truth.