As western society has largely become more effeminate and soft, so too has the modern Church in the West. Probably no greater example of this than how we conceptualize “love”.

Obviously there are different types of love, but as a general concept love is largely presented as being totally tolerant, never angry, always gentle and never firm, conflict-avoiding, etc. When you look at the life of Jesus through this lens however, the only conclusion you can reach is that there were many times when love incarnate was not actually “loving” at all! Think about the times where Jesus was flipping tables in the temple, excoriating the Jewish leaders for their corruption and even coming across as disrespectful to his own family. So we need to ask ourselves, is Jesus in the wrong or are we?

The most ironic part about this, is that I often see what I think is this more true, Jesus-like love in courageous women who hate evil and cling to what’s good, than I do in passive men who won’t stand for anything.