Love and Affinity
Love is a condition found in God more than among humans. Many people struggle in marriage because they mistake love for affinity. Affinity resembles love, but it is conditional; love is unconditional. As 1 Corinthians 13:5 says, love does not dishonor others and is not self-seeking. We may feel affinity for a beautiful car or a beautiful home, but that does not mean we love those possessions. We speak of loving them, yet at some point we are willing to part with them—showing that, after all, we did not truly love them.
This is different from the love that marriage should reflect toward our spouses. For instance, I cannot discard my wife because she is old or disabled. When the Bible states that marriage can be dissolved only by death, it implies that marriage should be sustained by love, not affinity. Marital problems can be addressed by clarifying the difference between love and affinity. This also makes it easier to distinguish pretentious love from genuine love.
Truth, Advertising, and Politics
Truthful information does not require protection; it remains what it is. Another test of fallacious information is the intensity of its advertising. When informants declare themselves good, wise people view them with suspicion. In this world, truly good people do not commonly advertise themselves. Crafty politicians promise poor citizens heaven on earth. Self-advertising is what we call campaigning.
We can assume that campaigning of that kind is the only reason societies carry insurmountable challenges associated with poor delivery by those they trust. This has contributed to apathy in political activities in Zimbabwe. All politicians are now painted with the same brush—crooks. The ideal way to serve one’s community begins with identifying with that community. It is impossible to love a community one views as inferior to oneself. By failing to discern such treachery, citizens remain vulnerable to deception.
Anyone voted into political office is suddenly labeled honorable, even when there is nothing honorable about them. Yet an honorable person ought to identify with those they intend to serve. They do not attempt to impress merely to attract votes. The uneducated assume that a person driving an immaculate car deserves political office. This is how voters are duped by crafty politicians. Tumultuous marriages are similarly marked by such deception.
Love, Marriage, and Materialism
When approached by a potential lover who appears to be struggling in poverty, a girl may give no second thought before rejecting the proposal. Ethics without material possessions is considered insufficient, yet ethics should be the basis for a sustainable marriage. The girl would be surrounded by a host of seemingly good advisers: “If he cannot buy shoes for himself, how will he look after you?” they reason. But that is a recipe for disastrous marriages.
True love cannot be assessed with material possessions, as true love and material possessions are not necessarily related. Material possessions can be there today and gone tomorrow, while the opposite can be true of an ethical person. The first question to be asked is whether two people would be connected in love without material considerations, including their physical appearances. Yes, she may expect someone driving a beautiful car that the young man cannot afford, but that should not substitute for her love for him.
Out of infatuation, the young man might borrow a car to impress the girl. But that scandal catches up with him when she discovers the ruse, possibly after marriage, which may become grounds for ending the relationship. The truth is that the girl did not love the young man; she loved the car. Without the car, there would be no love to speak of.
The young man may be blameworthy for deceitfully projecting opulence when the opposite is true, but the girl is also treacherous for making the car a condition for loving him. There would be nothing else to blame except the car used to impress her. Blaming the girl alone for associating love with material things is not honest. The young man should have noticed that she considered the car more important than him and avoided her for that reason alone.
Material things pass away, leaving reality. Being attracted to a woman’s good-looking figure is also deceptive. What happens after she is involved in an accident and left disfigured? Genuine love considers the interests of the other person more than one’s own. This is different from using another person to advance one’s own interests. Marital problems, including discordant politics, are summarized in self-centeredness.
The Nature of Genuine Love
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:4–9 NIV).
The opposite is commonly true of our world, which assumes exercising love when impatient with those who fail to reach acceptable standards, unaware that love is not self-seeking. Kindness is taken to mean punishing non-achievers. Envy is considered normal, assumed to spur people to work hard. Boasting gives comfort when projecting one’s capabilities above others. But true love is driven by a desire to give one’s best to fellow humans through dedicated service.
Rudeness and obstinacy are considered to grant dignity to proud people and to be admirable to those susceptible to pride. Love is commonly confused with self-seeking when accusing the other person of not loving enough. Short-temperedness is considered a mark of dignity. Demanding respect is considered normal. Keeping a record of wrongs is considered virtuous. Wrongs from more than twenty years ago are deemed necessary to evoke today.
Our public media delights in highlighting scandals more than in highlighting what is good for community development. People hardly rejoice with the truth. Condemning evildoers appeals more than transforming them, especially to those also susceptible to similar evil. Condemning, rather than protecting, brings a good feeling.
Rather than hoping for the best, people enjoy declaring how wicked the world has become. Attracted to a lack of perseverance, people maintain excuses for failing to pursue goodness. In a country characterized by Zimbabwean conditions, prophetic messages popularized by speaking in tongues are common. But there is nothing permanent about prophetic messages, which end after fulfillment, anyway.
The same applies to speaking in tongues, meant to fascinate only nonbelievers. Knowledge is good, as it grants power and authority. But the effectiveness of knowledge ceases when others attain or surpass the same knowledge. However, greater knowledge is controlled by genuine love. To remain in control after achieving knowledge requires genuine love.
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: that one lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:12–15 NIV).
Jesus as the Standard of Genuine Love
Jesus remains the standard-bearer of genuine love. There is no record of Him ever imposing His authority on others. He never invalidated anyone but granted dignity even to the most despised people in society. Those who apply genuine love are Jesus’ friends and subscribe to lasting solutions. This demonstrates the principle of love at the same level as Jesus Christ. Hence, He comes accompanied by other Kings and Lords (Revelation 19:16).
Jesus stated that those other kings and lords are not different from Him, but pretenders appear to grant devotion to the Jesus they have never known rather than to His brothers, who are not different from Him. It is laughable when people pretend to love Jesus but despise His brothers and friends. This profound truth is highlighted in Matthew 25:40: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” This is how the projection of genuine love distinguishes true Christians from false ones.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5–11 NIV).
Rarely do people consider a person who suffers for the benefit of other people wise. When reflecting on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we see two brothers on equal footing. Later, the Father promotes the faithful brother for having always been with Him. This agrees with the exaltation of Jesus highlighted in the Scripture above. This shows that there had been a time when Jesus was equal with His brothers. His exaltation came when He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death—even death on a cross.
Leadership as Service
The whole matter of discovering deliverance lies in Jesus’ teachings and demonstrations. What remains clear is that a leader cannot be associated with dictatorship. A leader bears the responsibility to bring others out of confusion. He bears the interests of those being helped rather than his own. Authoritarian leadership, as known in the world, honors a person who is supposed to serve instead of one to be served, but Jesus taught the opposite principle.
Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25–28 NIV).
This legendary instruction distinguishes Christian leaders, whether fake or genuine. Common sense shows that true believers follow Jesus’ teachings without alteration. The idea of overly respecting Church leaders, even though Jesus was never respected in this world, exposes fake believers. Only those applying the above passage of Scripture without alteration would be genuine followers of Jesus. The most difficult thing is to apply Christ’s words, especially for those sincerely desiring to obey Jesus’ instructions.
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” (John 8:31–33 NIV).
What is intriguing here is that the Jews who had believed most of what Jesus taught were not on the same wavelength as Jesus. Their comfort and pride in being Abraham’s descendants were a form of enslavement they did not realize. All trappings of humanity remain in this condition. Rarely can one convince a renowned theological scholar of possible wrongness in a dogmatic position adopted from theological studies. Anything viewed as simple is viewed as not convincing enough. This is particularly so when the professor has followers behind him.
Pride, Truth, and Religious Authority
Think of a simple healing miracle performed by Jesus on a person who had been born blind. Jesus performed a miracle hitherto not performed by anyone. Instead of celebrating with the healed person for God’s miracle in their midst, they sought to ridicule the formerly blind person. None of those Jews ever felt sorry for the person born in that condition, let alone ever providing for his needs. Later, in conversation with the healed person, Jesus said something that remains misunderstood by most religious people:
Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains” (John 9:35–41 NIV).
Jesus engaged in this conversation both to test the healed man and to display profound knowledge to the skeptical Jews, who still could not discern the simplicity of God’s power. We must identify the sin Jesus was talking about. A careful analysis of the passage shows that Jesus was talking about the confidence exuded by those claiming to know but unwilling to accept the facts. The sin of humanity that Jesus came to remove is pride.
The righteousness of humanity is different from God’s righteousness because human righteousness is self-seeking, as opposed to God’s. Assuming to know, but without taking that information directly from the source, is therefore fallacious. All other sins are not of importance, as they cannot cause condemnation; the decisive sin is the one referred to by John the Baptist:
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NIV).
The most difficult thing is to penetrate the citadel of Christianity with this reality. Ordinary Christians are warned about information coming from strangers, with Colossians 2:8 used to validate the assumed heresy, because of a desire to protect self-interests. Naïve followers are also quick to adopt those condemned, considering that the information, although cited in the Scriptures, would not be commonly taught by their revered leader.
If not called names, a person with truthful information might be labeled a heretic and banned from a Christian organization. Authoritarians can never believe Jesus’ teachings. They are there to block those intending to understand the teachings of Jesus. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law were cited as believing that anyone not coming from their ranks cannot be authentic. They dared to shamelessly convince their followers of certain information, but without results.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are” (Matthew 23:13–15 NIV).
Sadly, these religious authorities do not seem aware of the gravity of their conduct. They remain convinced that they are carrying God’s responsibility to protect others from deception, yet they do not state where they got that authority. However, God’s truth does not need protection, as it is found only in the application of Jesus’ teachings. If Jesus is the only authority to remove the sin of humanity, His words need to be taken literally, without alteration. However, this appears unachievable to those obsessed with authoritarian traditions.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilisation, which lays out standards for lifting Zimbabwe out of its current economic depression and into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, offering relief to those who have witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book to be a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
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