Many Christians see “God is Love” as a stand-alone statement, as an abstract concept. But the Apostle John wrote these words in the context of Christian relationships. “He that does not love God does not know God: for God is love.” (1 John 4:8) The same can be said of “God is light” and God (is) a spirit” (1 John 1:5 & 4:24). John’s aim was not to define God but to show how His nature needs to be evident in our relationships with others. John’s statements are not abstract concepts but concrete realities. He marvels at the memory of actually touching the “word made flesh”!
The source of our love for others is God, who is love, but God is not only our Source but also our Supply, the conceptual “logos” became real in in the Man Jesus Christ.
The Greeks saw truths as abstract concepts. “Know Thyself” wrote Socrates. The Greeks and also the Romans loved such maxims. Their ideal of a future life was not one lived in a resurrected human body but a continuation of the present life in the Elysian Fields of a spiritual after-life.
As Christianity spread westward it absorbed Greek thinking into its theology, and in the process the concrete realities of its Hebrew origins were elevated to the level of abstract concepts. The faith that had been visible in what Christians did were encapsulated in theological statements that determined the way they thought. Philo of Alexandria, who was a Jew, attempted to reconcile both but failed.
The emperor Constantine seized on Christianity as a unifying factor for the Roman Empire, took from it what suited him, and banned what did not. (An early Jew-hater, he changed Shabbat to Sunday in honour of the Sun God, which he worshipped, and chaired (bullied) the Nicene Council of 150 or so bishops into giving him what he wanted. Through that religiously-disguised murderer, the dying Roman Empire morphed into the Catholic Church, “the deadly wound” to Pagan Rome was healed, and the whole world marvelled at the revived Papal Rome.
“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God…” wrote John. But he also wrote, “And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:1 & 1:14). Years later he wrote of seeing and handling the Word that had been made flesh, in the Person of Jesus (1 John 1:1). John does not present truth in the form of abstract concepts — church theologians did that after his death; and many do so to this day.
The result is that many think of faith as what they believe instead of what they do. The heroes of Hebrews 11 are honoured not just for what they thought but for what they did BECAUSE of what they thought! Abraham obeyed. Noah built. Moses made a choice.
Is your faith one of abstract concepts, or is it a one of real, visible, tangible accomplishments? Do you think of God only as Creator (which He is), or as your loving Heavenly Father? Do you speak of Jesus as the Saviour of the World, or as your loving, personal Lord and Friend?
Do you think of Hope as passively waiting or as actively expecting? Do you think of God as just existing, or do you think of Him as “a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”? Is your vision of eternity one of never-ending life in heaven with God or one of immortality with Jesus on earth during his reign and beyond?
To sum up: is what you believe an abstract concept or a concrete reality? Is it unreal, or is it visible and touchable? Does it consist of what you think about God and Jesus or what you do in the name of Jesus daily, to touch the lives of others around you? Too much self-examination is not good, but a little introspection can be not only helpful but also healthy.
We Christians are lights in this fast-darkening world.