The Chain of Secular Love Has Become the Enemy’s Toy

In lieu of Pride Month, many churches are touching on the topics of love, gender, and sexuality — subjects many preachers do not dare to address. However, for matters clearly (and first) defined in Scripture, I dare say it ought to be commonly discussed in church. Progressive Christianity is a toxin plaguing churches, and leading many astray. For those who know the truth, it must be proclaimed boldly — particularly over those who proclaim fallacies.

Preacher and author Jonathan Leeman of Capitol Hill Baptist Church recently gave a sermon on the LGBT slogan, “Love is love.” He inquired what it means for love to be love. Saying “love is love” draws many parallels to the cultural debate centered around the question, “What is a woman?” Many respond to this debate by saying “a woman is a woman.” Perhaps that isn’t technically lying, but it gives no context for what a woman actually is. Saying “love is love” is saying love equates to nothing as it lacks the presence of a definition. Here lies a movement based on a foundation of sinking sand. Yet, this is not so astonishing.

Those walking in darkness know nothing outside what their depraved souls tell them is the truth. This progressive movement says, “Love is whatever I say it is. Truth is whatever I say it is.” This mindset serves as the catalyst for worshipping same-sex relations, bodily mutilation, a need for global validation, and the murdering of the innocent in the womb, to name a few. So long as Jesus remains outside their definition of truth, they will never stop searching for identity; acceptance from a broken world that will always fail them. Always.

As believers, we understand this truth: Love is not what we say it is, since the Bible clearly states that God is love. Jesus declared in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” There is only one truth, and it is found in the word of God. This singular truth applies to love, gender, sexuality, and all aspects of life and eternity. Love, for instance, is depicted in this statement: “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). When Jesus suffered Calvary, it was His deep love for His Father and us that voluntarily drew Him to the cross. This love is built upon a firm foundation — one inseparable from God.

God’s righteousness, holiness, and goodness all serve as the basis of what love truly is. Biblical love is sacrificial, deeming it is better to serve than to be served. Secular love wants nothing than to please the desires of the flesh. Biblical love is patient and kind, neither jealous nor arrogant. Secular love is explicitly built upon pride — the sin by which Lucifer fell. Biblical love rejoices in the truth. Secular love rejoices in sin and lies.

The world’s definition of love is destructive. It obliterates marriage, a covenantal relationship ordained by God. It mutilates our bodies, which were made in the image of God. It devours humility, the fear of the Lord. It encourages covetousness, which leads to death. Pastor David Schrock preached about the destructive LGBT worldview. He said, “Gay Pride Month is just icing on the cake. That cake is rotten to the core. And if we have been silent about our disagreement with the LGBT movement in the past, we cannot be silent any longer.”

He continued, “The impact of this [movement] is not just to make our lives uncomfortable, it is to make the gospel unbelievable. … With Spirit given courage, we need to speak to these things out loud and in public. There can be no message of forgiveness or grace or redemption, so long as creation is denied, and the Creator is mocked.”

The LGBT movement is one of mockery as well as pride. Rather than submitting to the God of the universe, it places man on a throne of his own godliness. Truly, the world’s definition of love, as opposed to true biblical love, could not be more different. As Leeman said, the “love is love” narrative is “an idol hidden in an utterly convincing costume. A lie nobody can recognize. An angel of light.”

He continued, “Yet, what is the Bible saying with this wonderfully simple verse … God is love[?] … It’s saying that love is essential. Love is characteristic of God. Love is definitional of God. It is saying He is love like oceans are wet and suns are hot. His goodness is loving. His Holiness is loving. His judgments are loving. His discipline is loving. His soft bits and His hard bits are loving. His decision to answer the prayer the way you wanted it or the way you didn’t want it is loving. The good things that He gives and the bad things He allows — they’re all loving. … Father, Son, and Spirit abide together eternally, perfectly, purely, forever as love.”

Jonathan Edwards’s sermon from the 1700s, “Heaven is a World of Love,” emphasized the love Christians can look forward to on the other side of glory. He defines love in heaven as “always mutual,” without jealousy or hindrance, “expressed with perfect decency and wisdom,” perfectly enjoyable, unifying, tranquil, and joyful. This is because the “Cause and Fountain of love,” as Edwards wrote, “dwells in heaven. Heaven is the palace or presence-chamber of the high and holy One, whose name is love, and who is both the cause and source of all holy love.”

Christians, pray for those who believe they have found love outside of God, for they are drowning in an ocean of deception. Pray for those caught in this tsunami of pride disguised as love that their souls may be saved. The chain of secular love has become the enemy’s toy, and many have fallen victim to its allure.

True love is freedom and joy — the only way to life and life abundant. This love is God.