The complexity & simplicity of love.

I feel like love is complex. It has been made more and more clear to me that the creation of man was an expression of love and that the redemption of that expression was in fact redeemed by yet another expression of love in Jesus. To say that love is complex probably isn't doing it justice but I wonder how much of love we complicate. How many unnecessary boundaries do we place around love and forgiveness? Even forgiveness is an expression of love. How many of the complexities of love do we over emphasize at the expense of side stepping the "less complex" aspects of being a community that is indeed a reflection of the triune love of the trinity? I am not trying to manufacture anything here or force anyone's hand but maybe our environment has become such that it has enamored us from being more. At this point, judging things from the biblical model in relation to the community I see around me, the communities I periodically come into contact with, and even the global community of God- I cant help but wonder "have we set the bar to low?"

When I was a kid I admired a few bands- from The Smashing Pumpkins, to Radiohead, to Deftones, I was completely enamored by them- especially the guitarist! I would get tablature books for whole albums and try my hand at mimicking the songs note for note. To me, this was the standard for being a great musician. The music they wrote was the only music that mattered, the way they dressed was how "good" musicians dressed, the gear they played was what anyone with a brain would obviously play. But, as I grew older I became increasingly aware that this was just one take of a broader picture within the framework of music and even spirituality. Early on I thought that spirituality and rock music were at odds with one another so depending on which of the 2 I was indulging in I had to suppress my "wild side" The older I got, and the more I got out, the more I became aware that their were people who were fusing both heavy music with spirituality and making great strides in doing so. At this point, and ever since, I have not been so great at separating the music I play from the Lord I have submitted my life to. At points there was music that was completely against my worldview and, as it was dragging me down, I got rid of it. However, with out continually growing in my understanding of music, the world, and people, I would not have ever broken that mindset ... who knows, it could have deeply shaped me in a way that would look totally different that the person I am today.

So what does this have to do with love and forgiveness? Quite a bit! It is important that we never think to ourselves that we have "got it" or that "we understand"or that we have found a more palatable standard by which to gauge these virtues. This all ties directly back into the complexities of love- if we water down aspects of being Christ-like we are neglecting to view Calvary in its proper respect. 

Maybe in our minds we envision love as "this" or "that" and we find the things we want in a person before we can love them with our whole heart. I submit to you that in doing this you are fashioning an idol. This idol may never make its way into your life (in the form of Mr. or Mrs. Perfect), and it may, but you will be diluting your love down to some sort of exclusive affection that, given Christ, does NOT exist. But, I don't want to dwindle love down into the vein of marriage as if it is the "end all be all". But, if that be the case it would be best to keep in mind that we are in a marital covenant with Christ- the body of Christ, his bride! IF marriage is the "complex" side of love to us now lets not forget that as Christians we are already married. Lets leave behind this model in light of Christ and seek to always love and serve one another. 

Love is as simple and complex as we could ever imagine ... no one needs to be reminded as this more than myself. I just want a healthy balance.

Love,

Seth