Love God, Love Persons

Posted in , , , By Brett T Kelley 0 comments

You might be a grammar nerd if...
  • you mentally edit what your friends are saying.
  •  you use proper punctuation/capitalization in text messages, instant messaging, etc.
  • your extensive vocabulary confuses those around you.
  • you actually know the rule behind when to use "who" and "whom."
I don't believe I go overboard, but I am a bit of a grammar nerd. In conversation I will (half) jokingly correct a friend that uses "good" when they should have used "well." I leave them there anyway, but I feel a bit guilty for a dangling preposition. More important than the negative side, I find language enjoyable and some of my favorite jokes/puns are play on words.

A friend posted to this to my wall the other day.
Recently, I was talking to a friend that doesn't like poetry that much, not too big a surprise since she is younger. I explained to her the appeal poems have to me in their word use. In a text, we'd probably just say "luv ya" or maybe "i ♥ u." In regular writing or conversation, we'd say "I love you." Poetry is when we let loose and say "I'm enamored be you" "your smile is intoxicating" and so on. Okay, this was a bit of a bunny trail. I like language and grammar because it's enjoyable to me, but also because it matters.

When it comes to this church slogan, maybe I'm being over critical, but I'll let you decide. I first saw "Love God, Love People" in middle school. It sounds good because it is a succinct way to say the two greatest commandments, but something has changed. "Love God" is the first two words of the Greatest commandment, but "love people" is not. It actually says "Love your neighbor as yourself." I'd encourage you sometime today to read Jesus' discussion on this and the parable following in Luke 10:25-37. It is an easy thing to say that I love all people, but the moment I do not show kindness to an individual (for whatever reason) I show that I don't really love all people. The commandment goes even further than this. On my worst days, I still love myself very much...oh no, I have to show love to that one person in the same way. 

Maybe I'm being overcritical over this slogan, but I think it is important that we not hide behind a cliche slogan. It's hard, but it is what Jesus would have us do. How can you show love/kindness to an individual today?

Brett