Radical Love

What do you think of when you hear the word radical? If you are from my generation, what probably starts to creep into your mind are images of Zack Morris talking on his cordless phone or cheesy 80's movies with the typical surfer dude who's not only gnarly but can ride some "radical waves". Maybe you can even hear Michelangelo describing a fight scene to Leonardo and his other mutant brothers as "totally radical". Or maybe you are either older than me or younger than me and are Googling everything I just made reference to. Regardless, I think that society has produced for us a definition of the word radical which has diminished its actual meaning.

But in the past year in youth ministry, I also have heard time and time again, the plea for us as Christians to live lives of radical holiness and radical Christianity. Or in essence, there is a plea for us to embrace a life of radical love. But what does this even mean? What is meant by this phrase we say and this ideal we are aiming for?

Radical is defined as "pertaining to the root or origin; reaching to the center, to the foundation." Radical love, then, requires a return to the foundation of love. Radical love means confronting the uncomfortable truth that we, as humanity, and even as Christians, have moved away from the origin of love. What, then, IS that origin? What, then, IS this foundation of love?

1 John 4:10 says it simply. "IN THIS IS LOVE: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins." Our retreat from the foundation of love comes from our misconception about what love is. Notice that John does not write that, "in THIS is love: that WE love God" or "in THIS is love: that we know the Bible or pray lots of Rosaries or volunteer at a soup kitchen". No. Love is defined by love manifested. Love is defined by love given.

We won't learn to love radically until we stop trying to love radically. We won't learn to love radically until we allow ourselves TO BE LOVED radically--to experience the origin of love. It is not an accident that we are addressed in Scripture as BELOVED. That is what we were made to do. BE. LOVED.

Maybe you're reading this as someone who is searching for love. This message is for you. 1 John 4:8 says "Whoever is without love does not know God for God is love." Believe in the truth of this. We are without love and meaning and life when we don't know God--seek him; receive him; believe him. Maybe you're reading this as someone who has dedicated your life to the pursuit of God. This message is still for you. Ask the Lord today to give you the grace to see the ways in which you are squirming out of his arms and into the embrace of false love. Or pray for the grace to be re-captivated by the reality that the God of the universe loves and desires you.

So this week, regardless of where we are in our journey of faith, let's BE. Be in relationship. Be silent before him. Be open to receive that which he wants to give us. Be captivated by his grace. Be enlivened by his Word. BE LOVED. For it is in being loved that we become love. It is in returning to the foundation of love that we learn to love radically. And when radical loving becomes the norm, it will no longer be considered radical. It will be considered heaven.