Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 31

For Your Sake Christ Became Poor

In a sermon given on December 24, 1854, titled “A Visit to Bethlehem,” Charles Spurgeon portrayed a conversation between a Christian family on Christmas day. This excerpt is drawn (and slightly modified) from part of that conversation, and includes one of my favorite verses: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Meditate on the truth of that for a few million years! (We will—may as well get a head start.)

We ought all of us to think how our blessed Lord cast in his lot with the poor. When those wise men came from the East, I daresay they were surprised, at first, to find that Jesus was a poor man’s child; yet they fell down and worshipped him, and they opened their treasury, and presented to him very costly gifts—gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Ah! when the Son of God made that great stoop from heaven to earth, he passed the glittering palaces of kings, and the marble halls of the rich and the noble, and took up his abode in the lodgings of poverty.

Still, he was ‘born King of the Jews.’ Now, did you ever read of a child being born a king before? Of course, you never did; children have been born princes, and heirs to a throne, but no other than Jesus was ever born a king. The poverty of our Saviour’s circumstances is like a foil which sets off the glorious dignity of his person. You have read of good kings, such as David, and Hezekiah, and Josiah; yet, if they had not been kings, we should never have heard of them; but it was quite otherwise with Jesus Christ. He was possessed of more true greatness in a stable than any other king ever possessed in a palace; but do not imagine it was only in his childhood that Jesus was the Kinsman of the poor.

When he grew up to be a man, he said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Do you know that our comforts were purchased at the expense of his sufferings? “He became poor that we, through his poverty, might be rich.” We ought, therefore, to thank and praise the blessed Jesus every time we remember how much worse off he was in this world than we are.

Photo: Unsplash

Meet the Messiah Who Came to Serve

When Jesus washed the feet of His followers (John 13), they were amazed that a leader and teacher they respected so much would do the work of a servant. Peter especially couldn’t bear the thought of Jesus doing that. But Jesus insisted on washing His friends’ feet.

Jesus also said, “The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat” (Luke 12:37)!

Chad Bird writes about verse 37:

The master dons the uniform of a servant? Serving his servants? In that culture, this reversal of roles would have been as preposterous as a CEO today having a janitor sit in for him in the board meeting while the CEO scrubbed the toilets.

Ah, but this “unacceptability” is the point, isn’t it? Meet the Messiah who comes to serve and not be served.

Jesus fulfilled this servant vocation not only in His ministry—feeding the crowds, washing His disciples’ feet, and giving His life as a ransom for many—but, as we read in Luke 12, He is pictured as serving us even at the Messianic banquet.

What kind of heart beats inside the Babe of Bethlehem? A loving heart, a serving heart, that will never stop giving to us, His beloved ones.

We owe Jesus everything. He owes us nothing. But that doesn’t keep God from choosing to serve us, His servants. Jesus served us when He died for us. He said about Himself, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). And in Philippians 2:7 tell us that Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

I share more in this video:

As a father who loves his children goes out of his way to help them, God promises that He will always give of Himself for us. Why? Because He loves us and wants to show forever His appreciation for our loyalty and service to Him in this life. Does that mean we deserve God’s grace? Of course not. By definition, God’s grace is something we don’t deserve. If we deserved it, it wouldn’t be grace!

We must assent to Christ’s service for us (John 13:8). But even in Heaven, it appears, Jesus will sometimes serve us. What greater and more amazing reward could be ours in the new universe than to have Jesus choose to serve us?

If it were our idea that God would serve us, it would be blasphemy. But it’s His idea. As husbands serve their wives and parents serve their children, God desires to serve us. “On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples” (Isaiah 25:6). God will be the chef—He’ll prepare us a meal. In Heaven, God will overwhelm us with His humility and His grace.

Somehow, in His great love for us, our King becomes a servant, making us, His servants, kings! Notice that He won’t merely command His other servants to serve us. He will do it Himself. That’s why the grace we sing about in church is called “Amazing Grace.” If you think about it, there’s nothing more amazing than that God would love us so much.

Doesn’t that make you want to love Him more and more every day?

See Randy's books  It's All About Jesus  and  Face to Face with Jesus .

Photo: Unsplash

How to Fight Materialism at Christmas and All Year Long

I was on the Faith & Finance podcast with Rob West, talking about giving guidelines to fight materialism. (You can read all 11 guidelines here.) We don’t need to be victimized by the world’s materialism, especially at Christmastime. By taking our focus off the human receiver and putting it on the divine giver, Christmas can become a symbol of God’s giving heart rather than people’s grabbing hands.

Here’s a clip from the interview, about why we need to keep hearing “God Owns It All”:

You can listen to the full interview here.

See more resources on money and giving, as well as Randy's related books, including  Managing God's Money  and  Giving Is the Good Life .

Photo: Unsplash

Immanuel Came to Secure God’s Eternal Plan to Live with Us

Multiple times in Revelation 21, God says He will come down from the present Heaven to live with His people on the New Earth. The city “comes down out of heaven,” God’s dwelling place is “with man,” God will “dwell with them,” and God Himself “will be with them.” Despite the repetition, most Christians still don’t appear to believe that God’s plan is to bring Heaven to Earth and dwell here with us forever. Not just for a thousand years in a millennial kingdom on the old earth, but forever on the New Earth.

Christ is Immanuel, “God with us,” forever. The incarnation of Jesus was not temporary.

We normally think of us going up to Heaven to live with God in His place. That is indeed what happens when we die. But the ultimate promise is that God will come down to live with us in our place, on the New Earth. The ultimate Heaven will not be “us with God” but “God with us” (Revelation 21:3). The New Earth will be Heaven incarnate, just as Jesus Christ, our Immanuel, is forever God incarnate who will happily live in our midst.

Charles Spurgeon put it beautifully: “‘God with us’ is eternity’s sonnet, heaven’s hallelujah, the shout of the glorified, the song of the redeemed, the chorus of the angels, the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky.”

In this clip from a chapel message I gave last year at Liberty University, I share some thoughts about Immanuel, God with us, and the blood-bought hope He secured for us:

You can watch the full chapel message here.

Photo: Pexels

Eternity Changed Because Nanci and I Met 55 Years Ago

I shared a version of this on Facebook last week but wanted to also post it on my blog, and add a few more things.

Last week was the anniversary of the day Nanci and I met 55 years ago, December 7, 1968. The photo at the top of this blog was taken exactly one week earlier on her 15th birthday. The night we met, Nanci was wearing that same outfit. I remember her exactly as the photo portrays, including that impish look on her face. 

It fills my heart with joy to remember that day, as if it were yesterday, when my life began to change. I thank the Lord Jesus for bringing Nanci into my life, leading me to come to a youth group and a church where I first heard the good news, and eight months later knelt with an open Bible in front of me in my bedroom, and gave my life to Him.

What if I had not met Nanci (all the odds were against it) and come to Jesus a year later? Since my name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, I won’t ask the question of whether I would’ve come to Jesus without meeting Nanci, but I certainly believe she was central to His plan in drawing me to Christ. Even though the circumstances of our meeting and the fact that we were together in a serious relationship 10 months before I came to Jesus were not God’s moral will, they were part of His sovereign will. 

I thank God for the 54 years Nanci and I were best friends, including the 47 years we were married. I can’t imagine my life without Him, and I will be eternally grateful for His entrusting to me my soulmate Nanci, who walked beside me as together we walked with Jesus.

I will never forget Nanci saying to me a week before she died, “Randy, please take me home.” Of course, we were in our earthly home, where she lay in the hospital bed we had moved into our bedroom, but we both knew she was speaking of our home with Jesus. In tears, I responded, “Sweetheart, if I could take you home right now, I would, and I would never come back to this fallen world. But we know God is in charge of the timing.”

That Monday morning in 2022, when I held Nanci’s hand as she exited her body and entered the presence of Jesus, I could picture Christ’s outstretched arms and hear His loving words, “Well done.” I could imagine her broad smile as He hugged her. Home at last! And I thought of all the people from all over the world she would then meet and get to know and love—those we had the privilege of helping through our giving and ministry, and who thereby received the gospel, food, clothes, clean water, medicines, Bibles, and good books. Sometimes I feel like part of me went to Heaven with Nanci. That’s not only because of our deep love for each other, but because she and I partnered together to invest in people for eternity. I so look forward not only to seeing old friends but to having Nanci introduce me to these new friends we invested in before we ever met them!

I can’t wait to see Jesus face-to-face—Him above all—and then Nanci above all others. ♥️ 

A Grieving Mother’s Cry, and a Glimpse into How God Is Using Eternal Perspective Ministries

One of the things I love most about our ministry is that our staff take the time to respond to people who contact us. I have been told by countless people that in times of need they reached out to their church and didn’t hear back, or that they wrote to a ministry and didn’t hear anything. Or worse, they got back a form letter, reminding them to financially support the ministry. 

I do not want in any way to jump on the bandwagon of anti-church sentiment. I love the local church. I understand that pastors and churches get overwhelmed sometimes by all the needs in their midst. More people could sometimes be trained to respond as our staff does. There are legitimate reasons why a response might have fallen through the cracks in situations such as these, but I also know that it communicates something important when a hurting person receives a personal answer.

Heidi McLaughlin is one of our Eternal Perspective Ministries staff members who responds to emails. Recently she replied to a reader, and what she wrote was heart-touching, beautiful, and biblical:

A reader wrote:

To anyone who might be willing or able to help: I’ve always enjoyed Randy’s novels and perspectives, until my adult son died earlier this year. …grief aside, the worst for me is…the potential terror of the “intermediate state” that my son is in now. For, wherever he is now, and whatever he is now...he is not a complete, integrated human—body and soul. He is a disembodied spirit, lacking eyes, ears, hands...and along with it the (assumed) capacity to laugh and love as a human would. I am in terrible grief over this, dare I say, agony.

I’ve spent the past  months reading every book, article and summary on “the intermediate state” that I can get my hands on... I know the resurrection has not yet occurred. What then, is my son? How can he possibly enjoy life as a “disembodied spirit”? …If anyone knows of any literature on this subject, and has any time to attend to a personal cry, it would be appreciated.

Heidi responded:

I am so sorry for your loss. I have sons and I can only imagine the terrible grief and pain that you are going through. 

Here is where Randy has addressed the “Present Heaven” (he prefers using the term “present” rather than intermediate).

Please read the whole article, but I want to highlight two sections that I think speak to your concerns directly: 

Though the present Heaven is not our final destination, it’s a wonderful place, and it’s understandable that those who have had loved ones die in Christ wonder what life is like for them there. Based on the Bible’s teaching, we know several things: the present Heaven is a real (and possibly physical) place. Those who love Jesus and trust Him for their salvation will be with Him there, together with all who have died in Christ. We will be awake and cognizant. And because we will be with Jesus, it is “better by far” than our present existence.

And also:

Given the consistent physical descriptions of the intermediate Heaven and those who dwell there, it seems possible—though this is certainly debatable—that between our earthly lives and our bodily resurrection God may grant us some temporary physical form that will allow us to function as human beings while in that unnatural state “between bodies” awaiting our bodily resurrection. If so, that would account for the repeated depictions of people now in Heaven occupying physical space, wearing clothes and crowns, carrying branches, and having body parts (for example, Lazarus’s finger in Luke 16:24).

I really hope that Randy’s words are comforting to you.  No matter what though, please know as Jesus said to the thief on the cross as he was dying, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Your son is not at all miserable. There is no misery in Heaven whether we are talking about the present Heaven or the New Earth to come. 

Have you considered grief counseling? I just wonder if some of what you are going through is grief fatigue. Sometimes when our brain is so busy with grief we can’t think clearly. It sounds like your mind is spinning and unable to find rest. I would highly recommend finding a grief counselor or a grief share group at a church near you. You can search for a group near you at this website.

I’m praying for you today that you will feel the peace and comfort of the Lord as you walk this difficult path of grief.

The reader wrote back:

I’m flabbergasted that anyone, gatekeeper or staffer, actually ANSWERED my plea for help. I sometimes feel like a wounded animal howling into the wind in my pain, wondering if I’m heard at all. 

So…bless you…in every sense that God can…

I’ve never found this article Randy wrote…how I missed it, I don’t know. But thank you beyond words for pulling and sending it to me. 

Only in Heaven…will you know how much your time and small effort helped this grieving mom.

Randy again: Jesus said, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward” (Matthew 10:42).

The same is as true for you as it is for our staff: our Savior will not forget a single one of the countless acts of kindness each of us do for others, through work, church, and in our own personal lives with neighbors, friends, and strangers (one of whom may be an angel or Jesus Himself).

I’m deeply grateful for the servants’ hearts of our staff, and also for their wisdom. I’ve said this before, and it’s still true: daily we are humbled and amazed to see remarkable responses from people worldwide who are being touched by this ministry. 

I want to also say a special thanks for the ongoing support of our donors. You are the backbone of this ministry and enable us to keep serving in Jesus’s name. I am profoundly grateful for your kind support!

If you’d like to be part of our efforts to reach out to people in Christ’s name and to keep producing quality resources, we invite you to consider making a one-time or recurring donation. It’s the generous support of our ministry partners that enables us to continue our eternity-shaping work.  (I encourage you to start by giving to your local church where you are taught God’s Word, enjoy the fellowship of God’s people, and collaborate to take the Gospel to the world. Secondarily, you may choose to support other church groups such as EPM.)

We’re here to serve everyone without cost, so please don’t feel obligated to give to us. Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). It’s our privilege and joy to share freely what God has so graciously given us.

(If you do wish to make a year-end, tax-deductible donation, please note donations postmarked no later than December 31, or received online by 11:59 p.m. PT on December 31, will be included on this year’s tax receipts.)

Photo: Pixels

Could You Summarize the Christmas Story with One Word?

Note from Randy: A great book to reflect on Jesus this Christmas season is Come Let Us Adore Him by Paul David Tripp (Amazon, Christianbook). There’s no greater subject in the universe to contemplate than Jesus! The following is excerpted from Paul’s book.

If you had to summarize the Christmas story with one word, what word would you choose? Now, your word would have to capture what this story points to as the core of human need and the way God would meet that need. Do you have a word in mind? Maybe you’re thinking that it’s just not possible to summarize the greatest story ever with one word. But I think you can. Let’s consider one lovely, amazing, history-changing, and eternally significant word.

It doesn’t take paragraph after paragraph, written on page after page, filling volume after volume to communicate how God chose to respond to the outrageous rebellion of Adam and Eve and the subtle and not-so-subtle rebellion of everyone since. God’s response to the sin of people against His rightful and holy rule can be captured in a single word. I wonder if you thought, “I know the word: grace.”

But the single word that captures God’s response to sin even better than the word grace is not a theological word; it is a name. That name is Jesus. God’s response wasn’t a thing. It wasn’t the establishment of an institution. It wasn’t a process of intervention. It wasn’t some new divine program. In His infinite wisdom God knew that the only thing that could rescue us from ourselves and repair the horrendous damage that sin had done to the world was not a thing at all. It was a person, His Son, the Lord Jesus.

Photo: Unsplash

Kirk Cousins, Focus on the Family, and How God Uses Opposition to Spread the Truth

Kirk Cousins, quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, and former QB of the Washington Redskins, is a faithful and Christ-centered brother. We’ve gotten to know each other well over the last seven years, seeing each other once or twice a year and often texting. Several years back Nanci and I spent three days with Kirk and his wonderful wife Julie in their home and saw up close their hearts and character. (Here’s a Q&A I did with Kirk on Heaven, happiness, and generosity.) Those who have seen the Netflix series “Quarterback” know why so many viewers came to deeply appreciate and respect the Cousins. The family’s Christian faith was clear, and many reviewers, including no doubt some unbelievers, singled out Kirk as their favorite of the three QBs featured.

Despite the fact that those who know him personally realize he is a caring and loving person, Kirk has received heavy criticism recently from LGBQT advocates for simply appearing on a Focus on the Family program, even though he said nothing whatsoever about LGBQT issues. One article begins, “Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is under fire from angry fans after he sat down with Focus on the Family, an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group, for a conversation about faith and marriage.” It says,

Cousins engaged in a discussion with Focus on the Family's Chief Operating Officer Ken Windebank. The conversation revolved around Cousins' faith and the significance of marriage. Notably, Focus on the Family espouses fundamentalist Christian beliefs, including anti-LGBTQ+ stances and support for conversion therapy, among other contentious positions. During the half-hour dialogue, Cousins didn't explicitly delve into LGBTQ+ matters. Still, his alignment with Focus on the Family's values becomes apparent through his rhetoric.

After I shared the article with our EPM staff, my assistant Amy Woodard responded with these thoughts, which I really appreciated:

It’s too bad Kirk is receiving this unfair criticism (and Focus on the Family too!). But what made me chuckle is that the article quoted the statements (below) trying to discredit him, but all it does is share God’s truth with their audience! Then at the end of the article, it links to the entire 34-minute video with FOTF where they can watch and listen to Kirk talk about what it means to trust God and walk with Him.

It reminds me of Philippians 1 where Paul is in jail and says that God is using it to advance the gospel, since the whole palace guard knows why he is there, and it’s giving people confidence to proclaim the gospel even more. Verse 17-18 says, “The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I in chains, but what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”

It’s not fun to be unfairly criticized and misrepresented, but I hope Kirk is encouraged that without intending to, even his critics have helped spread his message, including biblical truth about the family and the good news about Jesus. The article said the following about Kirk, then quoted his biblically based words (see Galatians 6:7-8).

He shared thoughts on the consequences of life choices, echoing a belief in reaping outcomes based on actions taken:

"There are consequences to the choices you make in life. Good or bad. And if you sow good things you’ll reap good things. But if you sow poor decisions, you’ll reap poor decisions."

And at another point, he addressed his discomfort with how culture has drifted away from matters of faith, referencing one of his mentors within the organization:

“He challenged us to understand that that meant following Jesus, even if it cost you something. So if culture goes this way and Jesus went this way, even if it cost you something. I’m going to be a fully devoted follower, even if it costs me something."

"I’m going to trust Him and build my life on His truth."

Randy again: Seriously, isn’t this exactly what you would want readers of that website to hear?

Here’s the full video of Kirk sharing what it means to live as an ambassador for Christ:

Consider how these passages relate to the adversarial statements about Kirk Cousins and Focus on the Family, and how they apply to our own lives in light of God’s sovereignty and hidden purposes:

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done…” (Genesis 50:20).

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

 “The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths” (Psalm 135:6).

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Thousands of Years Before Bethlehem

Note from Randy: Pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie has a new advent devotional out called Heaven’s Light Breaking. He shares wisdom, Scripture, and prayers to help you connect with God and find hope and peace amid the holiday rush.

Greg writes, “God entered our world. He walked in our shoes, lived our life, and died our death. God came near. I pray He comes near to you this Christmas season and that this book might play a small part.” I hope you enjoy this introduction from Heaven’s Light Breaking.

“My King who is alive from everlasting ages past!”

Micah 5:2, TLB

Have you noticed it? Behind the scenes, many of today’s scientists, historians, and educators have been working overtime trying to remove the familiar calendar designations of “BC” and “AD.”

It’s a small, subtle thing, of course.

But it has worlds of significance.

As we all know, BC means “Before Christ.” And AD stands for “Anno Domini,” a Latin term meaning “Year of Our Lord.” According to one keen observer, “The change was made to mask the Christian basis for the dating system, in a bid to accommodate non-Christians and maintain political correctness.”  Now you are seeing BCE, which means “Before Common Era,” and CE, which means “Common Era.”

To put it plainly, some people want to remove Jesus—or any hint or trace of Him—from our calendars and textbooks and culture. They don’t want to be reminded of His name. They don’t want to admit that He was born of a virgin mother in a stable in Bethlehem. They don’t want to acknowledge that He walked this earth, died on a cross, and rose from the grave. They don’t want to be reminded that Jesus changed history. They don’t want to admit the truth that for 2,000 years our calendars have hinged on the day of His birth.

That hinge is Christmas.

When the Son of God was born to Mary in Bethlehem of Judea, everything changed. Through time and eternity, nothing would or could ever be the same.

Christmas changed everything.

Christ changes everything—and all the politically correct scholars and “woke” writers in all the newsrooms and universities of the world can’t change that truth. It is the hinge of history. When God Himself entered the world in human form, when the great Creator of the universe became a baby boy, planet Earth was transformed forever. And so were we.

Jesus, of course, did not begin life when He was conceived in Mary’s womb or when He was born in that humble animal shelter. He has always existed as the Son of God, the third Person of the Trinity.

The real story of Christmas goes way, way back before Bethlehem, before Mary and Joseph, before the shepherds and wise men and innkeepers and King Herod and all of the people who played a part on that best of all nights 2,000 years ago.

How could that be? How could there be a Christmas story before Jesus came?

The answer is simply this: The story of Christmas is actually an integral part of an even greater story that goes all the way back to the beginning. It is the story of our redemption.

God had a plan to save humanity before it ever fell away from Him. God had a plan to offer salvation to you and to me before we ever saw the light of day.

Jesus knew you BC.

Think about that for a minute or two. He loved you thousands of years before Bethlehem. David the psalmist exclaimed, “You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book! How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me” (Psalm 139:16-18, TLB).

Yes, at the right moment the Lord came to us, born on a back street in the backwater town of Bethlehem. As it says in the book of Galatians: “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4, NKJV). A better translation would be: “When the time was just right, God sent His Son…”

That is where He began life on earth, as the God-Man. This is where He first drew His lungs full of the air He had created. But the life of the Son of God goes back to the beginning of the beginning of the beginning. And before that! Speaking over seven centuries before the Lord’s birth, the prophet Micah wrote these words:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Though you are small among the clans of Judah,

Out of you will come for me

One who will be ruler over Israel,

Whose origins are from of old,

From ancient times.”

(Micah 5:2, NIV)

“Origins from of old!” Another translation captures it like this: “O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past!”

The truth is, Jesus knew you and loved you before you were you.

Before your parents met.

Before your parents’ parents’ parents met.

Before our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence.

Before Columbus set out from Spain.

Before Bethlehem.

Before Adam and Eve drew a breath.

Before the first star caught fire in the vault of space.

Before all Creation.

Never, never imagine that your life is random or without meaning. How could it be, when the Lord and Creator of the universe has loved you a million years before you were born.

Excerpted from Heaven’s Light Breaking: A 25-Day Advent Devotional .

Photo: Unsplash

Why Love Is Love Doesn’t Square with Scripture

Note from Randy: Rosaria Butterfield is an author, pastor’s wife, homeschool mom, and former professor of English and women’s studies at Syracuse University. This sister in Christ was previously, in her words, “a queer activist.”  God has done a remarkable work in her life, and Rosaria has become a wonderful communicator who doesn't shy away from tough topics.

Rosaria is the author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert; Openness Unhindered; and The Gospel Comes with a House Key. Her new book is Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age, and she addresses the propaganda modern culture has embraced about sexuality and spirituality, using the word of God to help illuminate each topic.  (You might like to watch her interview with Kevin DeYoung, going through each of the lies.)

I listened to the audio version of this book, and I can’t tell you how encouraging it was for me to hear Rosaria read it and to hear the inflections of her voice. It made it feel very personal. Whether or not you listen to many audiobooks I’d highly recommend that you do so with this one. Though I have not yet met Rosaria face-to-face, when I do meet her one day, I will tell her how deeply I appreciate her heartfelt love for Jesus and her boldness in standing for His truth. God bless you, precious sister.

Unpacking “Love Is Love”
A Rallying Cry for a Movement

I started seeing the slogan “Love is love” pop up everywhere in 2014.

Pithy and practical, the slogan humanized the LGBTQ+ experience. It steadied all gospel discussions of homosexuality on common grace, not saving faith. No dying to self, renouncing sin, or battling the evil in our hearts or the world. “Love is love” declared that we are more alike than different, that feelings are authentic and therefore good, and that homosexual relationships should be valued and honored.

“Love is love” became a powerful rallying cry, and it produced a mandatory constituency in the gay rights movement: allies—that is, heterosexual people who provided legitimacy, visibility, and cover, making the LGBTQ+ movement almost look wholesome. “Love is love” proudly pronounced that the lover's authenticity determines the love's integrity. Who can judge love? it asked. The phrase seems innocuous and non-threatening. But inherent in its appearance was the deception that Eve met in the garden with Satan: Did God really say that love’s virtue is in the eyes of the beholder or that it is inherently good no matter the object?

Does God define love, or do I? Is God love, or are my feelings my God?1

It can’t be both.

“Love is love” declares that love stands on its own with integrity, meaning, and grace. But the Bible doesn’t square with this. The Bible says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8), and “Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6). In grammatical terms, “love” is a transitive verb. The integrity of “love” is found in its corresponding object. If you love what God loves, then love is a moral good. But if you love what God hates, love is a twisted sin. To suggest that love has integrity on its own terms is to render it an idol and wrench it from its moral anchor: the God of the Bible. Indeed, “Love is love” demonstrates the LGBTQ+ movement’s rejection of the biblical God for idolatrous lust.

“Love is love” exchanged compassion for the lost (knowing that people who live in the sin of homosexuality are dying in their sin and need God’s salvation and rescue) with a new definition of kindness (one that appeased sinful desires over God’s power to create new creatures whose progressive sanctification releases them from the bondage of sin). “Love is love” says you are fine as you are, and the only problem you have is the closed-minded Christians standing in the way of your political rights.

In all these ways, “Love is love” has had the social effect of normalizing what God calls abomination. “Love is love” is not a Christian slogan because it condemns people. Christians don’t throw people away; we know we are all born in Adam, loving something God hates. And we will fight this internal corruption—what the Bible understands as indwelling sin—until glory. But as we fight our sin, we grow in sanctification and live in the newness of life in Christ and the love of the visible church (Gal. 2:20).

“Love is love” became the motto of the gay marriage movement, a movement that, almost as soon as it hit the ground, rebranded itself from “gay marriage” to “marriage equality.” What’s in a slogan? A lot. “Gay marriage” signifies the entrance into uncharted territory, while “marriage equality” signifies a corrective shift, the righting of past wrongs, and the speedy sail to the “right side of history.” “Love is love” was the wind beneath the sails of a new anti-Christian age, the post-Obergefell world.

“Love is love” asks for empathy as it subtly redefines the institution of marriage. Empathy means standing in someone’s shoes, feeling their pain, and not rushing in to solve their problems. But people dying in sin need rescue. “Love is love” rejects this and instead asks you to jump in the lake and stand in the shoes of the drowning person. What kind of compassion is this? The Lord Jesus died for the sins of his people so that we could offer rescue, hope, and change.

“Love is love” says, “We’re all the same; we all have feelings of love and affection, and love is always good.” “Love is love” also has a grammatical thrust. “Love” is the subject; “is” is the linking verb; and “love” is the predicate adjective. The grammatical thrust anchors love’s morality in its self-referential meaning. But the Bible anchors love in the moral law of God. Why does this matter? Because “Love is love” rejects that anyone needs a gospel rescue. It rejects the grand story of creation, being made in the image of God, falling with the imputation of Adam’s sin, requiring the blood of Christ for rescue and ransom, and living in Christ as victors over sin and ambassadors of God’s call to all to repent and believe. The only relevance and place left for religion is the gutted faith of neo-orthodoxy that says Jesus is welcome to bless and affirm, but not to judge or to ransom.

Strategic Developments Made by “Love Is Love”

“Love is love” was strategically brilliant, encapsulating three necessary components for the LGBTQ+ movement to advance.

“Love is love” redefined personhood and declared gay is good and immutable. “Love is love” captured the Freudian idea that “sexual orientation,” a 19th-century category invention, is stable, fixed, morally neutral, and determines who you are (not simply how you feel or how your sin nature has deceived you). However, the truth is that there is no such thing as an “LGBTQ+ person” because personhood is bound up with image-bearing a holy God in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness (Gen. 1:27), and LGBTQ+ is captive in the world, the flesh, and the devil (Eph. 2:2–3). For those of you who want to evangelize “the LGBTQ+ community,” please know what you are saying. If God blesses your work, then there is no “LGBTQ+ community” because a saved person isn’t a slave to sin, either at the level of practice or in self-identity. I know. I was once lesbian, but God saved me, and in saving me, he plucked me out of the fire and brought me into the church. Born-again people die to sin, take up their cross, and follow Christ out of the gay bar. And we don’t go back.
“Love is love” reevaluated the categories of sin, sickness, personal freedom, and liberty. Another Freudian idea embraced by the evangelical church today is that homosexuality is first a form of suffering—and that suffering can lead to sin, but it doesn’t start out that way. But this is a falsification of what Genesis 3 tells us about the fall of man. Adam’s sin was imputed to us as our own. We are responsible for our “original sin,” not victims of it. Because we love the darkness (John 3:19) and we love our sin, our job is to hate our sin without hating ourselves.
“Love is love” produced reiterations of itself as slogans quickly replaced doctrine. “Love Wins” became a celebration of gay marriage’s legal victory in Obergefell vs. Hodges (2015), the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage in all fifty states. Obergefell also redefined “harm” from material (job loss, etc.) to the subjective. The “Dignitary Harm Clause” demands that you “affirm” someone’s LGBTQ+ identity so as not to “harm” their dignity. Well, here’s a news flash: the gospel harms all of our sinful identities, including those that now have legal protection. The consequences for what it means to live as real Christians in the world are serious: to comply with this law, you will need to honor everyone’s pronouns of choice lest you not only be labeled a bigot but be prosecuted as one. When the civil magistrate doesn’t punish the wicked, it will eventually punish the righteous.

Finally, the relative ease with which “Love is love” slipped into the moral framework of our age exposed that the evangelical church was not in a fighting mood. It was busy with the mission of being a soft presence in the world and didn’t believe that the sheep needed protection from the wolves. It exerted its false and foolish confidence that no spiritual war rages in my sweet town and no enemies pursue.

Have you noticed that LGBTQ+ allies, who ten years ago wanted you to “leave consenting adults alone,” now defend the rights of “trans girls” to play sports and use the locker room of their choice? How quickly allies became groomers. And yet, as Christopher Rufo has pointed out, there is no such thing as a “trans child.”2 Has anyone reading this spoken or attended a school board meeting at your local government school lately? I have. And the only time the word “pervert” was used was against the Christians who spoke against transgender ideology. The goalposts have been moved, and even though God is not constrained by this, you are and I am. Christians need to know what time it is and deal honestly with the world in which we live.

Because the visible church is apparently slumbering, the slogan “Love is love” has allowed Satan to drag us to Babylon by the nose. It’s high time for a wake-up call.

Notes:

An excellent book on the subject is Kyle Borg’s What is Love? Pittsburgh, PA: Grassmarket Press, 2022.
Christopher Rufo, “Trans Kids are the New Totem of the America Left,” Manhattan Institute, March 16, 2023.

Article by Rosaria Butterfield, Originally published and used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org .

Photo: Unsplash