Love is the new note that is to re-form the world. Love is the scientific principle from which all other true sociological concepts are derived. Love received the most perfect human expression in the personality and life of Jesus, who came not for self glory but to save people from hate and sin; who sought not the sheep to oppress and slay them for his own gratification, but to direct them, when lost, back to safe living; who sought not to weigh down the burdened with unjust taxes and harsh living conditions, but to relieve and give rest to the heavy-laden: who cared less for the upper Four Hundred than for the lower Four Hundred Million.
The principle of love compels the members of the Kingdom to show mercy. God is full of mercy, therefore, let his followers show mercy. Love forgives. The Christian citizen is instructed to become reconciled with his brother citizen before worshipping at the altar of God.[VIII-6] If the individual would be forgiven of his sins, he must acquire the habit of forgiving other persons. He must be careful not to judge harshly, lest other persons judge him harshly. He should forgive others seventy times seven times, that is, without stint or measure.
St. Luke, the physician, recites the story of a loving father. The prodigal son impetuously demanded his share of the inheritance, and going into a far country, wasted his substance in riotous living. But upon showing true remorse for these exceedingly grave offenses, his father received him back with a loving, forgiving heart, a feast, the best robes, and music and dancing. One of the malefactors who was crucified with Christ, showed a penitent heart at the last moment and received forgiveness from the loving, dying Christ. Since no one is without sin, no one has a right to be unforgiving. Even the woman taken in adultery came within the law of forgiving love.
The societary principle of love is the major chord of Christianity. It is Christianity’s unscientific but greatest gift to sociology. It has become the fundamental concept of sociology. To the Old Testament type of love which urged the individual to love his neighbor and to love the alien and stranger, Jesus repeatedly insisted upon a love that is still greater, namely, a love which will include enemies. Love your enemies.[VIII-7] Jesus himself exemplified this form of love. He made no idle interpretation of an impossible love, but demonstrated and lived a love which forgave his enemies, even those who mockingly, shamelessly nailed him to a cross. So great is the drawing power of this almost superhuman love which Jesus expressed in deeds that he himself predicted that if he were lifted up he would draw all people unto him.
Love fills people with compassion. The Gospels are replete with references to the fact that wherever Jesus saw sickness, poverty, sin, he was moved with compassion. The illustrations range from the blind men by the wayside to the bread-hungry multitudes, from the unclean leper in Galilee to murderous Jerusalem.
Love is cosmopolitan. All peoples are entitled to know the meaning of Christian love.[VIII-8] Both Jew and Gentile shall feel its warming glow. The Samaritan lives it. Loving neighborliness includes more than priestly and Levitical acts; it involves Samaritan kindness. The love in the heart of Jesus reached first to a few close friends, then to sinners and outcasts, then to the Samaritans and the Gentiles, and finally to the whole world. It led ultimately to that most unselfish of all human enterprises—the missionary movement.
Love leads to humility and self-sacrifice. Alms-giving is done in private, not for social plaudits. The individual prays, not to be seen of men and thereby to be accounted good.[VIII-9] He who seeks to save his life shall lose it; whoever loses his life for the sake of the Kingdom shall save it. He who stores up for himself the wealth of the world shall lose himself. Salutations in the market places and chief seats in the synagogues in themselves are unworthy. The poor in spirit are blessed.
Love shuns positions of worldly power, lest they be secured at the loss of one’s soul.[VIII-10] The best positions in life are not to be seized; they are obtained through the exercise of love; they are bestowed in recognition of merit and worth. He who exalts himself will be abased; the humble will be exalted.
Love creates true greatness. The members of the society of perfect love are characterized by the sincerity, purity, humility of little children.[VIII-11] He who serves most is greatest. The Kingdom of God is an aristocracy, not of Might but of Service. The Son of God came to serve, not to be served. For the sake of those outside the Kingdom, Jesus sanctified himself, sacrificing even his life in that cause.
Love makes the Golden Rule the best sociological proposition in Hebrew and Jewish literature. “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” In reply to a lawyer of the Pharisees, Jesus enunciated a two-fold commandment, the first part of which invoked complete love to God; and the second part, to man. The love of the individual for his fellow man as shown in both attitude and deeds is the test of the love of the individual for God. Love means service. Love does not connote lip-service; neither does it mean divided service. No one can serve two masters, God and mammon.