Last month we launched our newest book, 10 Words to Heal Our Broken World: Restoring the Meaning of Our Most Important Words. We are thrilled to have the support of people like John Stonestreet, Sean McDowell, Jeff Myers, Alisa Childers, and others who endorsed the book or helped us promote it on their podcasts and social media.
I encourage you to learn more about this important project that, in addition to the book, includes an in-depth ten-week Bible study course, ten short videos, and a podcast series. Your gateway to all of these resources is 10wordsbook.org.
This project has been many years in the making because these ten words are central to our mission.
The Disciple Nations Alliance exists to equip followers of Jesus with a biblical worldview, empowering them to build thriving cultures, communities, and nations. As my friend and mentor Darrow Miller has taught me, if you want to change culture, you begin by changing language.
Someone will shape the culture by defining words and embedding definitions into the systems and institutions at the foundations of culture. If not Christians with true, biblical definitions that lead to freedom and human flourishing, then non-Christians with false redefinitions that destroy nations.
A recovery of biblical definitions will lead to a revival in the church and a reformation of culture. I agree with the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, who sagely wrote, “In reconstructing a society in collapse, the first priority is to restore the proper meaning of words.” Cultures thrive in the rich soil of truth.
The ten words covered in this project (truth, human, sex, marriage, freedom, justice, authority, faith, beauty, and love) have a true meaning that comes to us from God through His Word, the Bible. These true definitions are not merely valid for Christians. They are true for everyone–Christians and non-Christians alike. As Christians, we must know these true definitions and build our lives on them. Then, we need to work to conserve and defend them in the public square.
Love
Since it is the Advent Season, I’d like to spotlight one of the ten words in this letter–love.
We associate Christmas with love because love is the motivation behind the Incarnation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16). Why did God put on human flesh and draw near rebellious sinners? Why did he enter this dark world filled with evil, injustice, pain, and suffering? Why did he lay down his life, dying on the cross to pay the penalty we deserved for our sinful rebellion so that we could be reconciled to God?
All because of love.
The message of Christmas is that you are loved more deeply by your Creator than you could ever hope or imagine. In the 10 Words book, I offer this concise biblical definition of love:
Love: (1) A source of pleasure, joy, or delight. (2) A strong affection, often accompanied by romantic feelings and sexual attraction. (3) To value, cherish, or treasure. (4) Fidelity and devotion. Faithful commitment. (5) To seek the good of another, to give for his or her benefit, even at a significant personal cost.
All five of these “facets” of love are interconnected and essential. The first three involve feelings like joy, delight, and affection. The last two involve choices and actions taken regardless of the ebb and flow of emotions. The last facet, agape, is the center of God’s heart and explains why he put on human flesh and drew near us on that first Christmas long ago.
The Bible tells us that love comes from God (1 John 4:7). It existed before the dawn of time in the love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. At creation, God extended that love to his creation, and particularly to his beloved image-bearers. That same love pursued us despite our sinful rebellion–a pursuit culminating in Christ’s cross, the greatest expression of love ever known. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
When we open our hearts and receive the extravagant and costly gift of love, it transforms us, and that transformation is the beginning of a ripple that moves out from us and changes the world. Here’s how Timothy Mackie of The Bible Project puts it:
…at the center of the universe is a being overflowing with love for his world, which means that the purpose of human existence is to receive this love that has come to us in Jesus and then give it back out to others, creating an ecosystem of others-focused, self-giving love.
Sociologist and historian Rodney Stark provided an excellent example of how this other-focused, self-giving love transformed the Roman Empire. The capricious pagan “gods” of ancient Rome didn’t love the people who worshiped them. In contrast, Christians worshiped a God who demonstrated his love for them. Pagan gods demand human sacrifice. The God of the Bible loved this world so much that he sacrificed himself for us. Not only that, but he also required that those who loved him follow his example and love others in sacrificial ways, even their enemies.
This sacrificial love was exactly what the early Christians modeled when deadly epidemics swept the Roman world. When someone in a home contracted the dreaded illness, other family members fled for their lives, leaving the sick alone to die. But Christians, rather than flee, drew near–just as Jesus did in the Incarnation. They tenderly cared for the sick, often contracting the illness themselves. The God they worshiped loved them, drew near to them, and gave himself for them, even to the point of death. They were simply following his example.
The result? Many Roman citizens who received this extravagant and costly gift of love converted. They abandoned their pagan beliefs and worshipped the living God. The love shown by the Christians transformed the Roman world in a few short generations.
This same transformation can happen again today.
At DNA, this is our vision and passion.
In my previous book, Why Social Justice Is Not Biblical Justice, I examined how a relatively small but highly dedicated group of neo-Marxists and “woke” revolutionaries successfully shaped Western culture, particularly our load-bearing institutions in education, entertainment, big business, the media, and government.
The tactics of their social revolution include “lawfare,” censorship, propaganda (or “narrative creation”), emotional manipulation, coercion, fear, and shaming. These tactics work, at least in the short run. But in the long run, they fail because behind them are spiritual forces of darkness, and God is more powerful than Satan.
God’s method for transforming the nations doesn’t rely on these dark tactics. They are far more powerful. He changes the world through love. As his followers, we are commanded to do the same. That is our calling, our task, and our purpose. But to carry out this task faithfully, we must understand love truthfully.
The word love has been redefined in the secular, postmodern West. God, the very source of love, has been discarded, and with him has gone all of love’s depth and power. All that remains is strong feelings or emotions. Love today is a hedonistic, self-centered counterfeit that isn’t love at all. It is the love of the hashtags #LoveWins and #LoveIsLove. Its symbol is the rainbow flag. What it demands isn’t self-sacrifice for the good of another but affirmation of lifestyle choices that run counter to God’s holy nature. This counterfeit separates truth from love and, particularly, moral truth. It demands affirmation, even of that which is wicked and ultimately destructive.
Tragically, this false understanding of love has crept into our churches, not just those of the mainstream variety who proudly display rainbow flags at their entrances and are “welcoming,” “open,” and “inclusive,” but many evangelical churches as well. Journalist Megan Basham highlights this in her powerful new book Shepherds for Sale (see chapter eight, titled “None Dare Call It Sin: LGBTQ in the Church”).
The fact that evangelical churches in the West are confusing genuine love for the cultural counterfeit is a serious matter. To scandalously separate truth from love means losing both, for “love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6). Truth and love cannot be separated, for both find their source in God.
Words matter, and no word matters more than love. For the church to be salt and light today, we must recover and live out the true definition of love. This recovery involves all of us in our most fundamental relationships with our spouses, family members, neighbors, fellow believers, and places of work. We must defend the true definition of love in the public square against those who seek to redefine it, stripping it of all its beauty and power.
This Christmas and into the new year, let’s resolve to grow in our knowledge of love and to put that knowledge into practice, loving others well. As we do, God will use us to disciple our nations for His glory.
Your generosity and partnership helps DNA further equip individuals, churches, and communities with an understanding of biblical principles that empowers them to bring transformation. Would you prayerfully consider making a year-end gift today?
A gift of any amount is appreciated and helps us further our reach to people of all ages in new and hard to reach places with important teaching about God’s purposes for believers to bring transformation to every sector of society.
Scott D. Allen, President
An Ongoing Legacy--Include DNA in Your Estate Planning
God will continue to use DNA’s mission to impact new generations. With support from DNA, believers will understand the comprehensive nature of a biblical worldview and build societies and nations that are strong and flourishing.
As you complete your will and estate planning, we hope you will consider including Disciple Nations Alliance. It has been a privilege to partner with so many believers in our ministry over the years and we look forward to decades of impact to come.
If you, or your attorney, would like to discuss this further, don’t hesitate to contact Tim Williams (602-345-1028, twilliams@disciplenations.org)
