Unity and the Logos of Love
Do you know someone who always seems at odds with the world around them? They question every norm, resist every structure, and challenge every system. Sometimes we call this kind of person a contrarian. While such resistance might appear brave or even prophetic, it’s worth asking: does this person seem spiritually mature? Wise? At peace?
The Gospel of John opens with a powerful statement: “In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God.” Later it declares, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” This Logos—often translated as “Word”—can also be understood as wisdom, reason, or a way of being. For Christians, the Logos is most fully revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. And the way Jesus embodied this Logos was not just through resistance, but through love.
Our Scripture reading today points to this truth: the “Friends” of Jesus live by the Logos of Love. They are not naïve or blind to the pain and injustice of the world, but they choose not to be defined by opposition. Instead, they are grounded in a deeper unity—a wholeness that does not deny brokenness but embraces it with compassion. They don’t isolate themselves in cynicism; they gather to celebrate the presence of love in the world.
Living by the Logos of Love means more than simply “liking” the world. It means loving it. Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s real. It means seeing joy not as a fleeting feeling, but as a chosen way of being. It means recognizing that everything, even pain, is part of an irreducible whole that God inhabits.
Yes, we can oppose domination, injustice, and death-dealing systems—and many who follow Christ do. But we do so not from a place of bitterness, but from love. We do so not to force the world to change through power as the world defines it, but to transform it through a deeper power—the power of joy, peace, and connection.
To live by the Logos of Love is to resist without hate, to hope without denial, and to love the world not in spite of its messiness, but precisely within it. It is to witness that the Spirit is present, that unity is possible, and that joy is a holy act.
