Many Christians quietly assume that if they were transported to a distant culture, they would become more zealous for the gospel than they are now. In reality, missionary faithfulness usually grows out of habits of evangelism formed long before someone ever leaves home.  The order of love reminds us that we should first be faithful where God has already placed us. But that does not mean stopping there.

In recent years, American culture has revived interest in a classic Christian idea: the ordo amoris, the order of love.

The phrase comes most famously from Augustine, who taught that virtue consists in rightly ordered love. “Living a just and holy life,” Augustine wrote, “requires one to be capable of an objective and impartial evaluation of things: to love things in the right order” (City of God, XV.22). 

That ancient insight has reappeared in modern discussion. A year ago, public comments by Vice President J.D. Vance about the order of love in the context of immigration sparked debate far beyond Christian circles. At roughly the same time, scholars and social scientists were observing similar dynamics from another angle. A 2019 study published in Nature Communications found that people’s political instincts often track with how far they extend their circle of moral concern and loyalty.

Whether one approaches the subject from theology or sociology, the issue is unavoidable. Human beings inevitably prioritize the objects of their loyalty, compassion, and responsibility. The question is not whether an order of love exists. The question is which order we will embrace.

For Christians, this raises an important question. How does the order of love relate to the church’s global mission? After all, the Great Commission commands us to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). The gospel obligates us not only to those nearest to us but also to those at the farthest ends of the earth who have never heard the saving message of Christ. 

To answer that question rightly, we must begin with Scripture. 

The Bible Teaches an Order of Love

The Bible clearly teaches that love has an order. Jesus himself summarized the law by placing our loves in sequence. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39). 

Love begins with God and flows outward to others. 

The apostle Paul also speaks of priority within Christian charity. “As we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone,” he writes, “and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). 

Christian love extends to all people, but it recognizes particular responsibilities within the family of God. 

The question is not whether an order of love exists. The question is which order we will embrace.

Scripture also recognizes ordered responsibility within the household. Elders must manage their own households well before they can lead the church (1 Timothy 3:4–5). And Paul warns that anyone who fails to provide for his own family “has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8). 

Even the wisdom literature warns against a form of concern that ignores present responsibilities. Proverbs cautions that “a fool’s eyes are on the ends of the earth” (Proverbs 17:24). The point is not that distant concerns are illegitimate, but that it is foolish to neglect what is immediately before us. 

Jesus rebuked a similar error among the Pharisees. They were willing to cross land and sea to win converts, yet they neglected the weightier matters of the law at home (Matthew 23:15, 23). 

Taken together, these passages show that the concept of ordered love is not merely a historical idea from Augustine or Aquinas. It is rooted in the biblical recognition that we are finite creatures. We cannot be everywhere at once. Our obligations therefore arise first from the relationships and responsibilities God has placed directly before us. 

Even the parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us of this reality. The Samaritan’s neighbor was not an abstract humanity somewhere far away. His neighbor was the wounded man lying in the road in front of him (Luke 10:25–37). 

In other words, the question is not whether we will operate with an order of love. We inevitably do. The real question is whether our order will be faithful to Scripture. 

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