You Tube Theology

In this compelling episode, Mike Tolliver and Dru Johnson tackle the question: does emphasizing storge—familial love—undermine the biblical command to love the stranger? For Tolliver, the answer is a firm no. Drawing on the Torah’s call to both kinship loyalty and care for outsiders, he argues that rightly ordered storge can actually train us to love beyond our immediate family, not in opposition to it.

Referencing a sermon that pitted parental love against evangelistic zeal in a moral dilemma, Tolliver critiques this kind of theological storytelling for distorting natural affections and presenting artificial spiritual choices. Instead, he proposes that scripture affirms the instinct to love family as foundational, not opposed, to broader moral development.

The conversation ranges from evolutionary psychology to the ethics of nepotism, raising questions about how familial loyalty can be misordered—like in cases of incest or unprincipled favoritism—but still reflects a divine design when rightly directed. For Tolliver, misuses of family love don’t negate its moral value; they call for discernment, not rejection.

This episode offers a thoughtful exploration of how love for the near ones can deepen, not dilute, love for the far-off—rooted in both Hebraic thought and human nature.