It seems today you find pastors, teachers and professors write articles and preach sermons on the gospel, evangelism, and the love of Jesus but they seem to forget something very important and that is God. An article on christianity.com titled The 4 Loves of a Healthy Church by Dr. Josh Moody is a good example of how popular phrases and ideology has replaced sound doctrine which gives understanding of the God we seem to forget. Dr. Moody contends that the four loves of a healthy church are: love of Jesus, love of Jesus’ word, love of Jesus’ people, and love of Jesus’ mission. Those are all good things but I find it somewhat troubling that neither God or the Holy Spirit made it into the top four loves of a church. After all, a healthy church should display a love and a desire for both God the Father and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Some may say that Dr. Moody didn’t forget about God because Jesus is God. The problem with that viewpoint is it is based on a lazy and improper approach to the teaching of the trinity. Jesus did say that “I am in the Father and the Father in Me” and “before Abraham was, I am.” However, Jesus also made a very clear distinction between himself and God the Father. Jesus did not intend for people to view himself and God the Father interchangeably as the same person. A good example of the importance of acknowledging both God and Jesus is the definition of eternal life given in John 17:3 KJV “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” To understand the person and work of each member of the trinity is fundamental. Dr. Moody only mentions God once in his article and that is to state that in healthy churches Jesus is their God and the love of their lives. The article itself is at odds with Jesus’ own words who clearly taught that the greatest commandment is “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Mat 22:37). In order for us to grow healthy in our church we need to understand each person of the trinity, their roles, and their works.
The issue I have with the four loves listed in the article is not merely that the love for God was omitted. The issue is that the love of God was omitted. There is a big difference between our love for God and the love of God. The love of God is a love that is beyond our capability. We as Christians are to let the love of God dwell within us. A good application of this is seen in 1 John 3:16-17, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” The love of God dwells richly in those who love Him and keep His commandments. But those who oppose God do not have the love of God in them. Jesus told the Jews who sought to kill him, “But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you” (John 5:42). If there is one love that is an indicator of the health of a church it is evidence of the love of God and the love of God does not make the top four loves in this article. So let me ask you a question. Did the author forgot something very important?