“All you need is love,” the Beatles famously sang. Were they hopelessly naive and idealistic? In light of events in Boston this week (not to mention the Vietnam War in 1967, when the song was #1 on the charts), we should be forgiven for thinking so. We may rightly ask, “How will love protect us from senseless violence?” And the answer is: It won’t.
Ultimately, nothing will—certainly, nothing that money can buy. We can’t trust in ourselves for true security and peace. Can we trust instead in the One whose very nature, according to 1 John, is love? In so many words, this is the question the Rich Young Ruler faces in Matthew 19:16-30. “Let go,” Jesus tells him, “of this thing that you trust in for your salvation, and trust instead in me.”
Is this kind of faith all you need? I don’t know, but it’s a good start.
