Daily Bread

When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

On Monday the news was filled with a theological argument that took place between J.D. Vance, the VP (Vice President) of the US and Rory Stewart, a political commentator and former UK politician turned podcaster.

They were both arguing about Christianity and 'who you should love'. Vance said that Christian love for others is in concentric circles that radiate outward from us. In other words, you should love yourself, then your spouse/partner, then your children, then your parents, then your wider family, then your neighbours, then your community, then the people of your nation, then last of all the people of other nations. Rory Stewart argued that love is unconditional and for all, and that Jesus calls us to love the outsider and the alien as much as we love those closest to us. Vance replied that no-one actually does that — and to be fair, he has a point — but that does not make the theology of the gospel unsound.

The problem with the theology to which Vance adheres is that it gives people the justification to not love others as we love ourselves, and it gives us a mandate to put our nation's interests first at the expense of another nation's. Does this not lead directly to ethnic cleansing, genocide, and war?

The very definition of pride is loving ourselves first, before God, others, and the world around us, but this is not the kind of love that, by his example, Jesus gave us, and it is not the kind of love Jesus asked his disciples to model. No, love is unconditional and for all, and we are called to be a people who love.

Holy God
May I see your beloved Children as you see them
and never prioritise or withhold my love.
When my heart is hard towards others,
melt it and shape it.
Transform me from the inside out, and
forgive me when my words or actions
have harmed others or led them away from you.
Amen