Just Love?

Recently I had the opportunity to speak at two Friday night events for Rochester Institute of Technology’s Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship. The picture you see here is actually a card created by someone from the fellowship to thank me for speaking there. They chose such an image because to introduce my second message (“The Biblical Drama”), I utilized some of the most powerful dialogue from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, namely, the discussion of the prophecy between Harry and Dumbledore.

Harry sat in thought for a moment, then asked, “So if all of his horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort could be killed?”
“Yes, I think so,” said Dumbledore. “Without his horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul. Never forget, though, that while his soul may be damaged beyond repair, his brain and his magical powers remain intact. It will take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like Voldemort, even without his Horcruxes.”
“But I haven’t got uncommon skill and power,” said Harry, before he could stop himself.
“Yes, you have,” Dumbledore said firmly. “You have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can –”
“I know!” said Harry impatiently. “I can love.” It was only with great difficulty that he stopped himself from adding, “Big deal!”
“Yes, Harry, you can love,” said Dumbledore, who looked as though he knew perfectly well what Harry had just refrained from saying. “Which, given everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are still too young to understand how unusual you are, Harry.”
“So, when the prophecy says that I’ll have ‘power the Dark Lord knows not,’ it just means – love?” asked Harry, feeling a little let down.
“Yes – just love,” said Dumbledore.
(J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 508-509)

Here is a lesson many Christians need to learn, not least we here in America. In how many ways do we neglect love and attempt to further the kingdom with our own methods? How many actions do we trust more than genuine, Christ-centered love?

How often do marketing techniques take precedence over acts of mercy? Look at evangelicals and compare how much money is being spent on new buildings and equiptment, and compare that with how much is spent feeding the poor and clothing the naked. While we cater to the whims of young, rich and middle class suburbia, safe havens for battered women go unsupported and unstaffed. We trust money and methods, but not the love of Christ.

How often do we point fingers instead of offering the mercy of Christ? Do sinners know that we are sinners too, or do we come off as perfected saints telling everyone else how to live?

What about our attempts to live the Christian life? Are they characterized by trust in the radical love and forgiveness of Christ? Do we really believe the gospel is the answer to sin? If the shelves of Christian bookstores are any indicator, then it would seem the Christian life is more about self-acceptance, self-help, and morality than love.

What does love accomplish in Christian theology and life? God is love. The love of Christ compels us to obedience. Love is the fulfillment of the entire law! Love resulted in the death of Christ for our sins. To be perfected in love is to be without fear. Love causes us to forgive and seek reconciliation.

But love is hard. What does love look like? It looks like the murder of an innocent Man, a gruesome picture of nailed hands and feet, blood, exposed bones and mocking voices. It is only this love that can transform us and the world around us.

Just love?

In that conversation with Dumbledore, Harry was frustrated that it was not extraordinary skill and power (wizarding greatness!) that would cause the defeat of Voldemort, but “just love.” He had forgotten that it was “just love” that saved him and defeated Voldemort the first time. He had forgotten that it was love that motivated his mother to give her life for him.

And we Christians have forgotten the radical, aweful, and almighty nature of the love of Jesus. Love remains the “power that the dark lord knows not.” It is our only hope of triumph over death, forgiveness and acceptance before God, and the only hope for this damned and dying world.