Show and Tell
By George “Chip” Hammond
Not long ago I was at a stoplight behind a car with a bumper sticker that read, “love is love.”
“Love is love.” At best this is to state the obvious. It really says nothing. You can’t define a word with the same word. I suspect, though, that what the driver meant to convey is that “love” means “anything I want it to mean. I reserve the right to give any definition I want to the word ‘love.’” Is the definition of “love” really so non-descript?
In the language of the New Testament there were several words that could be translated “love” which were very specific in their meaning. There was, however, one word that was a catch-all. It was not specific. It had no definite meaning, and it’s the word we find most often in the New Testament: agape. Because all the other words for “love” were inadequate to describe God’s love, the writers of the New Testament co-opted this word and poured into it the meaning that Christians are so familiar with today. It is the word used by the apostle John when he writes, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, what whoever believes in him would not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
This verse can be overlooked due to its familiarity, but it conveys an important truth: to really communicate the meaning of love requires a “show and tell.” Talking about love without demonstrating it is useless; but demonstrating love without talking about its meaning is meaningless.
Talking about love without demonstrating it is useless. Don’t misunderstand John 3:16 when is says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son.” John is not saying, “God loved the world so much that he gave his Son.” The word translated “so” here means “in this way.” That is, “Here’s how God loved the world: he gave his only-begotten Son.” God demonstrated his love, and thus defined love in the giving of his Son.
This is precisely what Paul tells us in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love [agape] for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus’ death on the cross is the culmination of what it means that “God gave his Son.” But the “giving of his Son” was seen throughout Jesus’ entire earthly ministry.
Jesus demonstrated the love of the God in all that he did. He provided food for the hungry, even when they had no claim to it, and Jesus did not owe it to them (Matthew 14:14-20). He provided healing for the sick, even when it appears their infirmity might have been the result of their own sin (Matthew 9:1-7). He reversed people’s misfortunes even when it didn’t fit into his time (John 2:1-11). In the life and ministry of Jesus the demonstration of love comes first, lest the talk of God’s love should sound hollow.
We followers of Jesus do well to remember that. Maybe it was a reaction to the “Social Gospel” of the early 1900s, but for almost a century, evangelical churches talked a good game about the love of God but weren’t involved much in the needs of those around them. I’m glad to say that’s changing. More and more, churches are involved in feeding hungry, clothing and sheltering the naked, exposing abuse in the church, and demanding change and justice lest God’s name be blasphemed among the Gentiles. God demonstrated his love for us in Jesus, and we who are followers of Jesus must demonstrate God’s love. Talking about God’s love without demonstrating it is useless.
But demonstrating God’s love without talking about its meaning is meaningless. “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son” – that’s a demonstration of God’s love. “That whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life.” That has to do with meaning. Believing in him requires knowing something about him.
It would not have done for Jesus to do his work in anonymity and obscurity. God justifies us and saves us through faith, and faith requires a message to believe (see Romans 10). In the recent past evangelical Christians talked a lot about God’s love but didn’t demonstrate it much. We need to be careful that the pendulum doesn’t swing the other way now. The danger today is that we would demonstrate God’s love but not talk about it.
The execution of a first century rabbi from Galilee did not “speak for itself.” Who he is, what he did, and what took place on that cross requires explanation. There is nothing self-evident in the death of Jesus that indicates who he is or why he died. The gospel – the message about him – must supply that information. Talking about God’s love without demonstrating it is useless; but demonstrating God’s love without talking about its meaning is meaningless.
To be sure, the demonstration of love must come first. We must lead with demonstration. When people hear the message of Christ but are not shown the love of Christ (or worse, when they are shown the antithesis of the love of Christ by people carrying “Jesus” flags as we have sometimes sadly seen on the news) the words heralding the gospel are regarded as a lie. Our actions are important. But even if we are very careful to show the love of Christ accurately, our actions do not speak for themselves. They are not enough.
When we show love – God’s love, a 1 Corinthians 13 love – to others because the love of Christ compels us to do so, we should look for a way to explain the reason, and to give an account for the love that is within us. As you serve others because you are followers of Jesus, you should look for opportunities to share some aspect of the gospel as you do. You may not be able to share the whole thing, but you don’t need to. Sometimes you will plant, sometimes you will water – God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). Share what you can, but do endeavor to share words, not just actions.
Unless we explain the love of God in Christ that we are showing to people in helping them, people will see the love well enough, but they will supply their own definition of “love” and won’t necessarily know God’s definition. As nice a soundbite as it is, “Love speaks for itself” is not entirely true. People won’t be able to understand Jesus’ love without an explanation of it, and the explanation that the Bible supplies is not only true, it is also good news. The love of God in Jesus is a show-and-tell affair, and we must do both. Talking about God’s love without demonstrating it is useless, but demonstrating God’s love without talking about its meaning is meaningless.
So show – and tell.
