LOVING OUR WORLD | Addison Bevere
George MacDonald once wrote that God’s “determination is that his sons and daughters shall love each other perfectly. He gave us to each other to belong to each other forever.” True love escapes the confines of time, belonging to an eternal story.
We don’t love well when we view life only through a temporal lens. The reality is faith, hope, and love last forever. They will always be part of our lives. When we embrace their transcendent nature, we play by the rules and ways of heaven, opening our lives to the largeness of true love—the intimate and eternal sort.
True love will inevitably create tension in our world. It requires us to actually care for people. And caring for people creates conflict—it makes things messy. Too often we run from this conflict because we despise the tension it brings. We don’t want to be peacemakers; we want to be peacekeepers. The status quo is too easy, too convenient. Why fight the system? Why be disruptive?
But Jesus’s message was and is that the world’s system— largely driven by its idea of love and relationships—is tragically flawed. It must be cast aside so something new can take its place. We must fight the system!
Tragically and ironically, the self-centered love of this world makes the self hopelessly small. That is why we, as the people of God, have to believe we are who God says we are: sons and daughters of the Most High, re-created in Christ and entrusted with a glorious message of reconciliation that extends beyond us (2 Cor. 5:18–19).
Most people don’t truly love themselves—they love a False Self they undoubtedly know is unworthy of love. This spurning of themselves, even if it masquerades as self- love, will cause them to treat others with similar contempt, precluding real connection.
But true love will open your heart to others, giving you an intimate understanding of their fears, needs, and struggles. In this knowledge, you will be able to love them as you’ve learned to love yourself, your True Self—the one reborn in Life, vibrating with truth and overflowing with love.
Can you imagine a world where God’s Saints pursue such a love—a world where our relationships are infused by his faith and hope? What a glorious world. We would spur one another onward in patient endurance. This is the love that would mark us as his. This is a holy love, a derivative of God’s otherness. Such a love is worth chasing. Ultimately, this is the love that will mark the systems of God’s new world.
I’ve seen glimpses of this love in my own marriage, family, and community. (But I want to see more.) This love creates unbreakable bonds of fraternity and trust. It forges an intimacy that is wildly beautiful. And it makes space for a growth that exceeds expectation and perceived limitation.
This kind of love loves unto perfection.
PERFECTION
The word perfection often leaves a bad taste in our mouths. It can feel like a big tease. A goodie dangled on a string just beyond our outstretched fingers. A reminder that we’re not good enough and never will be.
I’m a firstborn and a perfectionist. (Yes, I know that “perfectionist” is an oversimplification, but bear with me.) As a kid, I constantly felt like I was one sin away from hell . . . or from becoming the antichrist. My Christian experience passed through my lens of self, circumventing the whole idea of me being a new creation in Christ. And I could never be good enough for God.
But around my twenty-first birthday, everything changed. That summer—I’m a June baby—brought a revelation of love that has reshaped my life. I began to get a picture of how God sees me. And my idea of perfection started to change.
Fast-forward ten years. I’m still a perfectionist (just ask my wife), but I’m confident in who I am in Christ. And a revelation of God’s love and commitment to me has set me free from being consumed with my own perfection, or lack thereof.
Now when I encounter areas of my life that are less-than- perfect (and there are a lot of them), I can humble myself and make room for God’s grace to do what only it can do: redeem my past and empower my future. By not obsessing over my idea of perfection—and ardently defending that position—I am, ironically, moving toward a higher perfection. That’s the power of humility.
Addison Bevere is a man who appreciates the simple things in life—time spent playing with his four kids, late-night conversations with his wife, interesting words that no one uses, a meaningful day of work, and, of course, a good book. Addison is also the COO of Messenger International, an organization that impacts millions of people in over 150 countries through its various initiatives, and the cofounder of SonsAndDaughters.tv. To learn more about him, visit AddisonBevere.com.