All You Need is Love?
Stay in Ephesus
Writing to Timothy, his son in the faith, the apostle Paul urged him to stay in the city of Ephesus for the express purpose of charging certain persons not to corrupt the pure doctrine that had been delivered, or to get lost in complex genealogies and wild speculations.1 Then Paul explained the reason for this urging.
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
– 1 Timothy 1:5, ESV
In 1967, English rock band, The Beatles, recorded and released the non-album single, “All You Need is Love.” This simple, yet misguided assertion plays well in today’s “you do you” societal framework. “Love is love.” “Love makes the world go ’round.” “All you need is love.”
That same year, Beatle, George Harrison, proclaimed, “With our love, we could save the world!”2 In an interview with Melody Magazine, Beatles’ band manager, Brian Epstein commented, “It was an inspired song … The nice thing about it is that it cannot be misinterpreted. It is a clear message saying that love is everything.”3
It sounds so good and feels so right, but it is so non-biblical.
And lest I be misinterpreted as saying love is unnecessary, or unimportant, that is not the case at all. Scripture abounds with teachings regarding the supremacy of love.
Love, in scripture, is characterized as the greatest virtue and the very essence of God’s nature. Jesus confirmed that love is the greatest commandment.4 He taught us to love our persecutors.5 The apostle Paul wrote a mini-essay on love that constitutes the entire thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. The apostle John went so far as to say that if you don’t love, you don’t even know God.6
Looking again at the statement from Paul to Timothy, quoted above, Paul’s aim, his intended outcome is love. And what Paul is saying to Timothy is that love is possible when our doctrine is uncorrupted.
Doctrine Does Matter
Paul left Timothy in Ephesus specifically to warn certain men not to “heterodidaskalein.” Don’t teach other doctrines, Paul says.
“Doctrine” is one of those heavy words that can be seen as daunting or off-putting. Don’t let it be so for you. In the simplest of terms, doctrine (διδάσκω) simply means “teaching.”
From Noah Websters 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language:
In a general sense, whatever is taught. Hence, a principle or position in any science; whatever is laid down as true by an instructor or master. The doctrines of the gospel are principles or truths taught by Christ and his apostles. The doctrines of Plato are principles which he taught. Hence a doctrine may be true or false; it may be a mere tenet or opinion.
Paul urged Timothy to watch his life and his doctrine closely.6 Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”7 As Christ-followers, we are uncompromisingly aligned with truth. And note that Jesus did not say, “Your word is the truth,” but rather “Your word IS truth.”
The Exchange
A dangerous trend in the Western church is the trend away from community emphasis toward emphasis on the individual, and from truth toward experience. Thus truth/doctrine is deemphasized in favor of personal fulfillment, what Jesus can and will do for me, a personal relationship with a personal savior.
The rise in self-orientation provides irresistible bait for prosperity preachers who fleece their flocks while tickling their ears with orations on confident living, self-improvement, and personal success, as congregants await their personal miracle the same way the addicted gambler awaits their casino payout with the next press of the button.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.
– 2 Timothy 2:15-17a, ESV
Men and women will be taught. It is inescapable. We are indoctrinated (note the word “doctrine” in that) by the news, by social media, by advertising, by music, by talk radio, by classroom instructors, by movies and television programs. Teaching is everywhere. If we will not accept truth from God’s word, we will be dragged down by humanistic propaganda.
The End Game
If we are to earnestly pursue love, as Paul says we should,8 we must pursue it from a platform of truth. This is what Paul is telling Timothy in our opening verse above. Keep your doctrine pure and uncorrupted so that you can love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
1. 1 Timothy 1:3-4
2. Womack, K. (2007). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four. (p.1011). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO
3. Dowlding, W. J. (1989). Beatlesongs. (p. 188). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster
4. Matthew 22:36-40
5. Matthew 5:44, Romans 12;14
6. 1 Timothy 4:16
7. John 17:17
8. 1 Corinthians 14:1, 1 Timothy 1:5
