I knew someone once that adamantly said that she didn’t understand the importance of ‘theology.’ She always said, “Why can’t we all just love Jesus and let go of all the details?” I think what she really was trying to say was that some people can get so caught up in the intellectual ins and outs of theology that they distract from unity with other believers and the importance of the gospel itself. But regardless, whenever the word ‘theology’ came up she was very quick to throw the conversation out the window.

We’re all familiar with the fact that the word “love” has many different terms and applications in scripture. You have philia love, which is brotherly or platonic love. You have storge, which is familial love. You have eros, which is romantic love. And you have agape love, which is the love of God.

That’s because the Hebrew words for love had the ability to encompass different meanings and facets of love depending on where or how they’re used. But have we ever considered there are other words that are multifaceted in the same way?

I remember being a kid, sitting in the church pew, and hearing this commandment. I remember looking over at my mom who was giving me a look that said, “Did you hear that?” I probably rolled my eyes because I thought God was backing her up on the whole 8 p.m. bedtime and doing my chores thing. Back then, that’s what honoring my parents meant: obeying them and following the rules. And sure, maybe that’s part of honoring– listening, heeding, and abiding. But it goes deeper than the age-old “because I said so” mentality that we’ve attached to that idea.