Tough Love is a part of Discipleship, whether we like it or not

To many of us, if there's one thing that Jesus really showed during his public ministry, it's the fact that God is love. From healing the sick, to casting out demons, to giving his life on the Cross for all of us, Jesus' ministry encapsulates perfectly, the heart of God. Whilst many in the time of Jesus thought of God as an angry and vengeful God, who's wrath needed to be appeased, Jesus shows us that we have a loving and merciful God. 

By no doubt, charity is at the heart of Jesus' public ministry, which continues till this day. In fact, Pope Benedict has said more than a few times that Charity is the heart of the Church. The hallmark of a true Christian isn't about how much Scriptural or Theological knowledge he possesses, but in his love for his neighbour. 

However, I do wonder sometimes if we are picking and choosing how to love others as Jesus did. I do wonder if we have been picking and choosing on which elements of Jesus we want to be impacted by. Many of us seem to be under the impression that to love someone encapsulates being nice all the time. 



In this day and age, it seems that most of us desire for the plush toy Jesus. We desire for the Jesus who does not condemn, who chooses to love no matter how big the sin. And of course, this is who Jesus is. He is loving, and always ready to embrace us. We see this throughout the course of Jesus' public ministry, such as in the parable of the prodigal son, the story of the adulterous woman, and even during his passion, where he promised paradise to the repentant thief. 

However, while it is absolutely clear that our triune God is ever loving and forgiving, and always ready to embrace us when we have done wrong, we need to remember that being disciples of Christ does not solely entail embracing this side of Jesus. We do not get to pick and choose, if we really wish to be his disciples. 

Hardly any of us want to remember, much more to embrace, the Jesus who showed tough love when it needed to be given. We brush aside the Jesus who went into the temple with a whip as we saw last Sunday. We don't like to think about the Jesus who told his disciples that it'd be better to tie a millstone and be thrown into the sea, than to lead others astray. We forget the Jesus who was willing to lose every single one of his followers when they could not understand, much less comprehend, his teaching on the Eucharist, and how we must eat his flesh and drink his blood.

In this day and age, many of us forget that tough love is still love. We forget that Jesus showed gave tough love when it needed to be given, and we do not appreciate it when he shows tough love to us when we need to be on the receiving end. By doing so, we hold the expectation for Jesus to spoil us, and we don't allow him to be who he really is, in our lives and in the lives of others who we are meant to show his love towards. He does not want us to become spoilt brats. He wants us to be disciples. 

Tough love is important, and dare I say, necessary. While it's true that it's never nice to be on the receiving end of it, any mature person would know that it's for his own good. While painful to endure, it teaches us to be disciplined, strong, and able to stand our ground. And this is what discipleship also entails. 

Our God truly loves us, and he shows this in the form of both being forgiving and embracing, and giving tough love when it is necessary. He does not mince his words, and it is never his will that we be mollycoddled. Can we accept this? 

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