Love or Die: Christ's Wake-Up Call to the Church

The Revelation to John contains seven letters to the seven churches from Jesus, each with it's own series of commendations and rebukes. The letter to the Ephesian church reads as follows: "I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned l the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of o the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches..." (Rev. 2:2-7) In Love or Die: Christ's Wake-Up Call to the Church, Alexander Strauch addresses both the theological and the practical implications of the abandonment of "the love [we] had at first" (Rev. 2:4), instructing his readers in both the problem of lost love and how to cultivate love within the church. Regarding the problem, it's not so much that the Ephesian church had stopped loving Jesus, it was that their love had become stale, mundane. "They still loved the Lord, but not like they did at first. They still loved one another, but not like before," writes Strauch (p. 9). Their service was out of obligation, rather than joyful worship. Their study was, perhaps, merely academic, and not transformational. They lacked joy, spontaneity, energy, and creativity. When God's people abandon their first love, they abandon their ability to love each other. Strauch rightly says that Jesus declares these two are inseparable companions. But when our love for Christ is diminished, what happens? We tend to drift toward trusting "in external religious rituals, traditions, denominational distinctions, doctrinal correctness, and moralistic rules, while we overlook the essential, foundational elements of love for God and neighbor" (p. 19). We become like the Pharisees who "tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God" (Luke 11:42), Strauch warns. We must, therefore, remember "from where [we] have fallen; repent, and do the works [we] did at first" (Rev. 2:5). We must learn to rekindle our love for Christ and for people. The second half of the book focuses on how we can rekindle our love. Through the study of love, we gain a better understanding of what the Bible really says about this important issue of the Christian life. Strauch even helpfully provides an appendix containing 50 key texts on love for readers to study and meditate on. By praying "to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge," (Eph. 3:19), we gain not only an intellectual understanding of His love, but an experiential and ultimately life-changing knowledge of it. By prayi

This is a short study on God's love, our love (or lack of love) for Him, and our love (or lack of love) for our neighbor. I found it helpful as a beginning treatment or synopsis of the subject. The first part discusses the problem of lost love based on Revelation 2:4. The second part gives six ways to cultivate love. A study guide is included in the back. After I read this book, I read Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love" and found both books to work well together. The Love or Die study gives solid, practical advice; Chan's study adds an extra dimension to the same topic. Perhaps it is Chan's ability to vividly portray an idea in words. Whatever the reason, both books were tremendously helpful to me.

This takes you straight to the heart of Christ. A great study for any individual or church!

As relevant now as it was for the early church, this message of "Love or Die" is Christ's wake up call to us. Strauch frames the issue in biblical truth and conviction, and draws upon a myriad of scriptures and great examples, with great applications. There is no way to have a high view of scripture and turn from the radical kind of love to which Christ calls his people. As Strauch points out, it is radically different than that of any leader or movement in world history. This book gave me great clarity, encouragement, and focus in my relationship with my local church. A great companion volume is Strauch's "Leading with Love", which focuses of this kind of love in Church leadership contexts of all types.

It is a strange gig, being a book reviewer. There are times when I spend weeks or months in anticipation of a new book only to find it a great disappointment. And then there are times when a book just shows up--a book I didn't even know existed--and it takes my breath away. Such was the case with Love or Die by Alexander Strauch. While the book is large in dimensions (8.8 x 5.9, so slightly larger than an average paperback) it is short in length, coming in at just 112 pages (which includes a study guide, indexes and a couple of appendices). But despite its length, it packs quite a punch. I can think of few books I've read recently that have had so immediate an impact on me and have given me so much to think about. I trust, that with God's help, the implications of this book will be with me always. Love or Die is subtitled Christ's Wake-Up Call to the Church and is an exposition of sorts of Revelation 2:2-6. In these verses, Christ praises the church at Ephesus for their works, their toil, their endurance and their discernment. But he also rebukes this church, saying "I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first." He calls them to repent, lest He is forced to "remove your lampstand from its place." This church, it seems, had once been marked by love; but somehow, in the intervening years, the love had been lost. The sound doctrine remained but the love had waned. Christ gave them this simple admonition: love or die. Strauch divides his exposition into two parts. In the first, he reminds the Christian that it is possible to have sound doctrine, to be faithful to the gospel, to remain morally upright and to have the appearance of godliness, even while lacking in love. To lack in love is to ignore some of Christ's clearest, most urgent admonitions. And yet many Christians are marked more by an appearance of sound doctrine than by a true love for God and love for one another. When Christ saw this in the church at Ephesus, He reminded the church to "Remember therefore from where you have fallen." In Christ's assessment, the only assessment that truly matters, this church had fallen, and this despite Christ's commendations of them. "Remember, there is always one who walks among the churches, unseen but seeing all. How do you imagine Christ might evaluate your local church body?" Love is to be the distinguishing mark of the Christian. "No ancient or modern philosopher--Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Russell--ever taught such far-reaching ideas about love. No political figure, from Julius Caesar to Winston Churchill, has made such demands upon his followers to love. And no religious teacher, whether Buddha, Confucius, or Mohammed, ever commanded his followers to love one another as he loved them and gave his life for them. No other system of theology or philosophy says so much about the divine motivation of love (and holiness), or expresses love to the degree of Christ's death on the cross, or makes the demands of love like the t