Why is it wrong to say 'love is love'?: Christian apologist explains
What's wrong with the mantra “love is love,” and why does it go against God's design for relationships?
Jason Jimenez, a pastor and Christian apologist, used scriptural insights to address concerns with the popular phrase during a recent episode of his "Challenging Conversations" podcast, noting that it suggests all forms of romance, sexual orientations and gender identities should be affirmed.
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Jimenez said "love is love" is a phrase "that promotes unbiblical definitions of love" and that "we cannot simply accept this statement at face value."
“We have to consider the implications," Jimenez warned. "We have to understand the potential conflicts that this mantra has with God's design for human sexuality and relationships.
"Because if God has a standard, if He has a model, and we, as human beings, are saying ‘no, we have a different one,’ and we apply that to what we believe love to be and then force it down everyone's throats, that is dangerous."
Before Christians can understand why the mantra is morally wrong, they should first try to understand what love is, Jimenez advised, as there are different words for love in the languages of the Bible.
“There are different Greek terms for love, the biggest being agape; the more common portrayal of love, which is unconditional love, which is a reflection of God. And if you look at the Hebrew term of love you see this covenant of affection and commitment that is being used,” Jimenez explained.
“The modification that we see in the New Testament is one that is filtered through Kairos or the Greek term which means ‘grace.' This unmerited favor. So, we have unconditional love, and we have this unmerited favor that is being mashed into relation between God and human beings. And so, it's beyond just this emotion. It's a deliberate choice to act in the best interest of another, even when things are difficult."
Jimenez referenced 1 John 4, which states that “God is love,” with him adding that "true biblical love is not based on emotion or physical attraction alone."
"It's a sacrificial commitment that mirrors God's love for humanity. In essence, the first concern that we have with this mantra is that ‘love is love’ reduces love — God, who is love — to a subjective sentiment,” he said.
Jimenez clarified that he is not “devaluing the fact" that same-sex couples "are actually looking genuinely to be loved,” noting that people are “all wanting to be affirmed.”
Jimenez said that, nevertheless, Scripture is clear that sexual intimacy between two people in a covenantal opposite-sex marriage alone makes up the totality of humanity.
“There's a sexual intimacy that is expressive in that love. It's an unconditional love that represents that of Christ and His love for the Church. He's the bridegroom; the Church, we are His bride. And so, we must uphold to that sanctity of God's Word in the principles that we see that are established there,” Jimenez said.
“At the heart of all of this, when we are seeking these things out, to be loved, we know that love is the fulfillment of the law, Romans 13:8-10. How are we actually living out love, which is God, in the world rather than redefining [love]?”
The mantra “love is love” also "rejects objective morality," Jimenez noted, stating that it's "based on subjective feelings" and "is not looking at the standard of the essence of what love is universally."
"Now, the fact that we are talking about love is transcultural to all people at all times in all places. So, it speaks to it in that objective sense,” Jimenez said. “Objective morality, what it asserts and what we can ascertain from it, is that there are moral principles: there is an objective good and an objective evil."
“And so, when it comes to this whole claim that we have equality, that anyone can love whoever they want, at any given time how they want, that is actually false,” he stressed.
“That is rejection of objective morality. Because God has a certain standard that He's put into His creation and it's beautiful. And if or when we taint it, we will see that we're not truly loving our Maker and as such, we are not truly loving ourselves; therefore we cannot truly love others.”
Nicole VanDyke is a reporter for The Christian Post.
