Mercenary Love and Its Inadequacy

Painting: "Jacob recieving Joseph's bloody coat" by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

There is a lesson that is almost always learned fully only when painfully in this fallen world, and in a sense, it is the problem. This truth is only so crushing because it is the cause of every betrayal. It is a fact that convenience is often a significant factor in determining what relationship is chosen, which is chosen against, and worse, when. I have experienced the betrayal of people I trusted because I wanted to, those I trusted because I had to, and had a close friend betrayed. However, I am also guilty of choosing things out of convenience mostly with our Blessed Lord Who is deserving of all my love, and other times with people although not usually as extreme as the aforementioned times I was at the other end. As a finite creature made for love having very little of it in return, I could say just how much it sucks, but I am afraid it exceeds the reach of words. For God, Who knows our every thought, is well aware of when we are likely to betray Him and when we are about to, so this hurt is not likely to be momentarily painful nor therefore momentarily healed but rather created us knowing what to do about our mercenary heart. Mercenary love is not a love like God's, to say the least, and the Bible reveals time again that we do not know what to do with such a heart, one that gives itself to the highest bidder.

First and candidly, there is so much evidence it is difficult to know where to begin with this point but God's love, in contradiction to the mercenary love, God's love is the sort that does not have the slightest idea of giving up on its subjects. From the beginning, it was the belief that God having such a fickle love that made us sick and imparted to us this heart that only we have associated a price with.

Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.
In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status and therefore against his own good. Constituted in a state of holiness, man was destined to be fully "divinized" by God in glory. Seduced by the devil, he wanted to "be like God", but "without God, before God, and not in accordance with God".
Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness. They become afraid of the God of whom they have conceived a distorted image - that of a God jealous of his prerogatives.[1]

It is worth clarifying, both to elucidate the proper deduction and to speak it into the depths of the subconscious, that the truth of the full reality of God's love is so important a truth that to come to a lesser conclusion has caused our every problem. The truth is God exists and better than that does not impose upon us anything but our own goodness, being His children. In our blindness, ignorance, and ill-conceived beliefs about God, we often believe our every evil is justified. God's love is greater than that of the least rational lover, Whose prerogatives are only bound up in the love He has for us, and He bears it in its fullest definition because He Himself is its fullest definition (1 John 4).[2] He also proved it to us in the most painfully real way and continually does so in His providence and grace(John 3:16; Romans 8:28, 38-39). Even if God had this kind of love, since He is complete in Himself, at best, He would find us entertainment, likely would have nothing to do with us, and at worst, would be opposed to our will. Thank God He is not like that.

Second is the bad news, we are like that. In every case mentioned in Luke 15, we find that no one in the chapter of parables is said to love except the Father, and in every case the love of God is misunderstood in some fashion. The Lost Sheep lacks the sense of what is ultimately good and so loses connection to the shepherd and in observing the little bit of reality it can make sense of wanders alone feasting on the good that is in front of it. Sometimes a lost sheep does not find itself far from the kingdom and others are in great danger of never being found or being killed by a predator. Still, this is only a mild case of mercenary heart, since the true love is the Shepherds and what He offers. The next case is more inconsequential, a lost coin, and concerns the minimum case of mercenary heart. The coin is only in danger of being found by a thief since it does not wander, however, the owner only needs to find it. Once found, there is no question for the coin where it ought to be. It is worth noting that Christians generally speaking Who are truly seeking to live according to the Christian life but fall short, even Atheists who are morally aspirant and follow logic. The next two cases are much more difficult to extricate the sinner from because they have a mercenary heart with severity. The first and most bitter case is likely that of an addict or a rebel, where the good of communion with the Father is cast out like garbage for the "best" the world has to offer. The situation better fits the rebel, who at the outset believes wholeheartedly in the contradiction of the Father's commands. Still, there is something redemptive in the path since it is the very same mercenary heart that saw what was believed to be the greater good elsewhere separates the whole person from communion and finds itself emptied entirely of what it thought was good and finds that communion was better and so still with a mercenary heart comes to believe what is true. This case is only dangerous because it depends on the sinner finding sufficient poverty to do whatever it takes to get back to the fullness of communion, the reconciliation is most efficacious for such a sinner though. The last case is particularly concerning because it is only grandeur that holds them in communion and as such their communion is in vain because although they are on the edge of right communion, they must realize the insufficiency of their communion. This is why Christ was always seeking to denounce the elders, legalists, and wise men of His people, Who people follow because they appear so religiously bound. Their betrayal is as dishonest as their communion since they do not live in light of love they misunderstand the whole point, even love itself. They interpret the communion with the Father as purely legal and not relational. Their pride/sense of justice is a greater good to them than the merciful love of God, and the mercy scandalizes them and so they refuse communion worse than any. In my experience, the same people who rashly judge others to be hypocritical or judgmental are themselves the most judgmental sort, which is to say easily and often misinterpret or disbelief the goodness and love of others.

In conclusion, it is a famous quote of Chesterton's that "we are all in the same boat and all sea sick". If our every hurt and sin originates in the fact we misunderstand the love of God, perhaps we should question what we think of the love of God and wonder whether we have accurately understood it. Simply, we were born with a broken heart. We must, it seems to me, do our best to comprehend it, factoring in the reality that however much we love Him, however much we have ever felt loved, or understood love's truest definition, He loves us so much more.[2][3] In this, we also know what it means to love a sinner, to love someone who needs ransomed from their perceived if not also real experience of not having been shown love in its truest sense.[2] Moreover, God knows how to work with our "adulterous" hearts, hearts that follow pleasure, wealth, powers, and honors in place of love. In fact, God tells us:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws...This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." (Ezekiel 36:26-27, Jeremiah 31:33, cf. Proverbs 21:1, Philippians 2:13, Deuteronomy 30:6, 1 Samuel 10:9)

When we pray, "create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). God will answer and often it will come as being taught how to love the Giver and not only His gifts.[5] In the end, learning to love like God means trading our "sea sickness" for a new heart that truly knows how to love, one that, far from entertaining betrayal, only considers the good of the other. Mercenary love is call "Love of Concupiscence" by Aquinas.[6]

Written by Carter Carruthers

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