The Liberating Law of Love

The Coulees around Lethbridge, Alberta [Photo Credit: Helen Schuler Nature Centre]

Dave Ward, an influential youth pastor in my teens, left the church to start his own cult-like Christian congregation. Someone once described him, derisively, as having found the light, but not the love. That description has stayed with me as a useful reminder, in matters of faith, that we need both.

The freedom in Christ that Dave preached was tempered by the "spiritual laws" he taught, laws like: women could not speak at congregational meetings, but had to go through a designated male; sex should lead to marriage, it being "better to marry than to burn"; and spiritual discernment was black-and-white, a simple matter of distinguishing between "truth" and "non-truth."

Many seekers found faith through Dave's ministry, along with precepts for living their lives, a community where they enjoyed a sense of belonging, and perhaps even a life partner with whom to have lots of "babies for Jesus." But just as many were badly hurt, falling short of the tribe's standards by their "faulty" beliefs or "unspiritual" ways. Dave's narrow approach to faith may have confused as many people as it saved.

What would Jesus say to that? "Love God; love your neighbour as yourself." That's how he summarized the commandments when asked by a Pharisee which commandment was the greatest (cf. Matt.22:34-40). He wasn't being altogether original. He was quoting two separate, but well-known, verses from the Torah.

The first was a prayer recited daily by observant Jews, then as now, known as the Shema: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might ..." (Deut.6:4-5; NRSV). The second was drawn from what is known by biblical scholars as the Holiness Code: "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself ..." (Lev.19:18; NRSV).

Christians read those verses now as The Great Commandment, believing it to function as a corrective to spiritual legalism. It reminds us that beneath all the laws and commands we derive from the Bible, upholding them, as it were, these First Principles show us the way--love of God and love of neighbour. Without these, it is conceivable that faith can default to a moral rigidity that leaves one feeling condemned by guilt rather than freed by love.

As clear a teaching as this is, and as helpful, it takes many Christians a lifetime to find their way back to those First Principles and to let go of the implicit judgement they internalized from their spiritual formation within the church. They may have listened to sermons on God's forgiveness, but what they heard was the confirmation of their sin. As we recited each week from the Book of Common Prayer, God may be merciful, but we remain "miserable sinners ... unworthy even to gather up the crumbs under thy table."

Valerie Koot's spiritual journey has followed this trajectory, away from condemnation toward liberation. Raised within the strict constraints of the Christian Reform Church, she then migrated from church to church, seeking ever-increasing freedom, until COVID hit and, finally, she didn't have to go to church at all. Instead, on a Sunday morning, she would explore the deep and verdant coulees surrounding her home town of Lethbridge, Alberta, basking in the glories of the natural world and in the dawning realization that the same God who clothed the lilies of the field also dwelt within her.

Val had always believed in the love of God. She often acted courageously in the name of that love, drawn to people who needed its manifestation in their lives. But now, God's love was turning inward, shining at last upon her, replacing the judgement she'd felt in her youth with the affirmation that she was, indeed, worthy. Love makes it so. Could there be a greater law than this?

To listen to my conversation with Valerie Koot for my podcast, The Mystic Cave, just click on the Play button, below. To learn more about Val's ministry of spiritual accompaniment, write to me and I'll pass your note along to her.