Have you done it yet? Did you do what Vice President JD Vance said to do? Did you Google Ordo Amoris?
Vance, who professes faith in Christ as a Roman Catholic, said recently in a Fox News interview, “You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.”
Honestly, this sounds completely normal. Certainly, in previous generations, there would be zero controversy.
Not today.
This concept is very similar to what others have discussed in various forms regarding government. First, you have self-government, then family government, church government, city, state, federal, and so forth. Yet, too many times modern people hear the word government and automatically think, federal government. Generally, this should probably be the last form of government on anyone’s mind, especially the Christian, but usually, it’s the first.
But, is Ordo Amoris a pagan and naturalist ideal as some posit or a Christian concept worthy of emulation? Well, a quick Google search will inform you that it simply is to have “ordered loves or affections,” truly a concept as old as time and yet a foreign concept to our modern, upside-down world. Sadly, tradition and common-sense thinking have been swapped out for vague, “tolerant,” and frequently poisonous ideas about how humans should order their lives.
Ordered Loves
What does it mean to “order our loves?” Everyone, even atheists, and Christians of all stripes, can agree that human beings love things, people, experiences, and culture. But there has been a growing contingent of people, usually on the left (both politically and theologically) that want the average man or woman to swap out their natural affections for family and closest of kin in exchange for the “stranger,” “sojourner,” the anonymous “guy under the bridge downtown,” or the nameless, faceless, impoverished woman in some far-flung corner of the earth.
But must Christians choose between these? It is the order that is the problem, at least for those who don’t seem to carefully read and understand the totality of Scripture. Are Christians called to love people? Yes. Enemies and friends. (1) But Christians are also called to “love our neighbor.” (2) That begs the question, who is our closest neighbor? Our spouse, children the guy next door, the people at church. Love of people both near and far can be true at the same time, but the order still matters. We don’t love everyone equally.
A Real World Example
I do not love any other woman as much as I love my wife, not even my own mother. And if you think there’s something wrong with that, then you have grievously misunderstood Genesis 2:24. Of course I should love my wife more than any other woman I know. Furthermore, no other man should love my wife as much as I love her. If this is not the case in my marriage or yours, then sin is at foot in more ways than one.
Frankly, there is an Ordo Amoris in everything we do. But we need to love the right things in the right way, and not mix or rearrange them for the sake of cultural brownie points.
The 13th-century theologian Thomas Aquinas fleshed out the concept of Ordo Amoris to our love of others. As stated above, there is no question that all people are to love and are equally worthy of love. I would add that we are worthy of their love as well, as love is to be reciprocated. This is clearly seen in the classic love passage, Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13.
Human relationships bring with them responsibilities and requirements. Naturally speaking, it not only makes biblical sense to love those closest to you first but also practically as well.
Aquinas lays down a basic principle: “One’s obligation to love a person is proportionate to the gravity of the sin one commits in acting against this love.” To say it another way, we are to love with deeper devotion those for whom we have a bigger responsibility. We as people are limited to space and time, and everyone only has 24 hours in the day. Those against the concept of Ordo Amoris are either being dishonest or have never had a natural family or close friends.
Biblical Standing
Christians are to love others. But that does not mean loving everyone equally all the time in equal ways. Not only is this impossible, it runs counter to God’s narrative. God loved Noah and called his sons and their wives into the ark when He judged the world. God called Abraham over against others in the world to make him a great nation. God chose Israel to be the father of the twelve tribes, not Esau. God chose David, Elijah, Jonah, Daniel, Jesus, and the apostles, and on and on. And in all these loving interactions God always had purpose. He made distinctions and ordered His love accordingly.
If God did not want humans to love those closer in proximity to them, and thus love them more than those far away, he would not have given humanity marriage or children. There would be no familial relationships. We’d just be asexual bots bouncing around giving Him glory.
Have they Not Read?
This is not to say that Christians are to not love those far away. Caring for “the orphan and widow in their distress is pure and undefiled religion” as stated in James. But this is not a replacement for natural affection towards those closest to you. I love my children more than other children, and this ought not to be remotely controversial. It only gives some people an allergic reaction because they have been fed lies by the pagans outside who hate God’s ordered design. Remember, these same people are those who refuse to acknowledge the personhood of the unborn, who think girls can become boys, and who believe that borders don’t matter.
Christians, the time of silent shrugging is over. We must again stand firmly on God’s revealed word, not only because it’s what he calls us to, but because it’s better – it works.
References
(1) – Matt 5:44, Luke 6:35
(2) – Leviticus 19:18, James 2:8
