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About Jesus Steve Sweetman Hooked
On Love "Hooked
On Love" was recorded by Grand Funk Railroad on their 1970 album
entitled "Closer To Home".
Being hooked on love is what most pop songs are all about.
I suggest that pop love is all about being "Hooked On A
Feeling", not love, as was the title of B. J. Thomas's 1968 hit
song. Being "Hooked On
Hormones" might actually be a better way to put it. There
are two Greek words that are translated as "love" in our
English New Testament; the verb "phileo", (as a noun
"philos") and the verb "agapao" (as a noun
"agape"). Although
it's a bit simplistic, we say that "agape" is God's love while
"philos" is brotherly love.
The
word "agape" was pretty much out of use in the first century You
might think that "agape" is only associated with God in the
New Testament and "philos" with men
and women. That's not the
case. Both words are used in
reference to God. God
demonstrates "agape" and He demonstrates "philos".
Therefore, we can't technically say that "agape" is
strictly God's love and "philos" is strictly "human
brotherly love". We
should also note that the word "agape" appears many more times
in the New Testament than the word "philos".
Despite
what many think, the Greek word "eros" isn't found in the New
Testament. It means
eroticism or sexual desire, and finds its roots in the Greek
mythological god of love and sex. Of
course sexual desire didn't originate with some Greek god.
Men and women were created by the God of the Bible with sexual
desire. There is nothing
wrong with "eros", but we cannot confuse it with
"agape" as pop culture does.
In
New Testament terms, "agape" is selfless, sacrificial, and is
demonstrated in acts that don't demand, hint, or hope, for anything in
return. Jesus points this
out when He says that there is no greater love than when we lay down our
lives for a friend. (John 15:13) The
apostle John says we are "not to love in words alone, but in
actions based on truth". (1 John 3:18)
As
with anything in life, we tend to lose interest, enthusiasm, devotion,
and even love, over time. Many
marriages prove that to be true as couples drift apart.
The same is true in the church and in our lives as Christians.
Our tendency to drift from our original enthusiasm is sometimes
seen as a move towards a mature love.
That might be true in some cases, but I suggest in many cases
it's a drifting towards selfishness.
If our love is more mature now than it once was, we'll be more
selfless than we once were. Here's
my commentary on Revelation 2:4 and 5.
It addresses the issue of "lost or forsaken love".
It reads, "I hold this against you.
You have forsaken your first love.
Remember the height from which you have fallen!
Repent and do the things you did at first. If
you do not repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its
place". Jesus
is very upset with the Ephesian Christians because they had forsaken the
love they once had for Him. He
now holds this sin against them.
"Remember
the heights from which you have fallen".
Pop culture says we "fall in love".
This passage relates the word "fall" with "falling
out of love", not "falling in love".
Love is a choice, not something we stumble into. In
response to forsaken or lost love, Jesus tells us to repent of this sin.
Then He tells us to "do the things we did at first".
Doing the things we did at first implies we don't do those things
now. By doing the things we
did when we first met Jesus and were enthused by Him, we recreate the
atmosphere that once surrounded us, which in turn might well spur us on
to "agape". In
1964, the Righteous Brothers recorded, "You've Lost That Loving
Feeling". Somebody
should write a song entitled, "I've Found That Loving
Feeling". Although love
is not a feeling, if we want to re-ignite forsaken or lost love, or the
feelings associated with love, we must repent and do the things we once
did when we were enthused by love. This
also applies to married couples who have drifted apart.
Do the things you did when you were first enthused with each other.
By so doing you recreate the atmosphere that surrounded both of
you in times past. In this
atmosphere, love can re-ignite, and just maybe, the feelings associated
with love might return. If the feelings don't return, the mandate remains.
"Do the things you did at first". Finally,
if we don't repent and do the things we did at first, Jesus says we'll
"lose our lampstand". That's
what eventually happened to the church at
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