Love is love...

(A reflection on Mardigla 2019)

John 15:12
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

A simple command

Love one another

A command lived out by many

day in, day out

Those who catch the simplicity

the compulsion

and get on with it.

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

And then there are others

who take the simple

and distort it beyond recognition

fencing it around 

with conditions

and qualifications

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

Christ’s church you might think

would defend the simple imperative

Instead, we are

the worst offenders

and defenders

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

So why is life so full of encounters

with young and old

confessing, with tears in their eyes

I love Jesus

but I have been rejected by the church.

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church

How can we be better

How might we recover

the simplicity

of Christ’s command?

Not so that we look good

not so that churches grow

But so that love wins every time

The church does not have 

a monopoly on love

But love does have

a monopoly on the church