Carry-on luggage: do justice, love kindness

(I’m taking a lot on board with me this week ;-) )


Micah 6:7-8:

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Or with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He hath told you, O man, what is good
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness
And to walk humbly with your God?


Do justice...

Love kindness...

Walk humbly with your God.


I think of these verses often, but most recently they came to mind as I read this post at Out of Ur on love as a commodity. It features portions of an interview with Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz:

You've said that the church "uses love as a commodity." What do you mean?

Miller: We sometimes take a Darwinian approach with love—if we are against somebody's ideas, we starve them out. If we disagree with somebody's political ideas, or sexual identity, we just don't "pay" them. We refuse to "condone the behavior" by offering any love.

This approach has created a Christian culture that is completely unaware what the greater culture thinks of us. We don't interact with people who don't validate our ideas. There is nothing revolutionary here. This mindset is hardly a breath of fresh air to a world that uses the exact same kinds of techniques.

What's the alternative?

Miller: The opposite is biblical love, which loves even enemies, loves unconditionally, and loves liberally. Loving selectively is worldly; giving it freely is miraculous.

HT: The Dawn Treader