crysthewolf

I stole the title from a Brian Mclaren book. You should check him out sometime... he's got some interesting things to say.

But that's beside the point. ;)

John 13:34
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

John 13:35
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 13:8
[ Love, for the Day is Near ] Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.

Ephesians 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

1 Peter 3:8
[ Suffering for Doing Good ] Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

Mark 12:29-33

29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[e] 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'^[f] 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'^[g]There is no commandment greater than these."

32"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

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I'm not a Christian. I've already been over the reasons why. But I used to be a Christian, and, as I told my sis-in-law Jennifer (different sister-in-law) the other day... "I remember the rules."

You can tell that I looked up those verses on a Bible search engine (http://bible.gospelcom.net, if you're curious), so obviously I didn't have those verses memorized. What I DID remember, was that "love one another" seemed to be pretty important in the writings attributed to Jesus.

I also remember Jesus' ranting at the Pharisees... who got so wrapped up in "the rules" that they completely missed the point. I remember Jesus calling them "whitewashed tombs", and I remember that that meant that they looked like they were doing everything right, but that they were completely dead inside.

I've met a lot of Christians who get wrapped up in "the rules". They get caught up in figuring out who's wrong and who's right, who's pleasing God and who isn't, and they use the Bible to back them up. I have a problem with people who use the Bible as a bludgeon against other people. One of the reasons that I have a problem with that, is the fact that there is no evidence that the Bible really IS the infalliable Word of God (and a hell of a lot of evidence that it ISN'T), and yet it's used to resolve arguments about the pettiest of things.

But most people can agree, that loving one another, having compassion upon other people, taking care of people, actively trying not to be an ass... those are things that resonate with us. Those are things that we think of as noble, not because the Bible says so, not even because Jesus said it... but because we knew it already.

What was Jesus saying? I don't know about you, but every time I've read it, the situation strikes me as thus...

People all around Jesus at the time of his ministry were constantly arguing and fighting with one another about who had it right... who was keeping the correct rules, etc. Someone caught onto the fact that Jesus was saying that he was the son of God, and went "Hmm... well, it's worth a shot. If anybody's going to know what God wants, it's God's son, right?

I'm speculating. It's what we do with a 2,000 year old book written in several dead languages. What's wrong with that? Generally nothing... except for the people who are convinced that everyone ELSE is speculating, but they aren't.

Anyway, getting back to the point...

So man asks God's son, "What's the most important commandment to follow?" Pretty direct question. Pretty WISE question, if you ask me. Personally, I kinda like this guy. And Jesus' answer?

Love.

I think of Jesus saying something like, "You already know. You already know what's important. Think about it, kiddo."

Love one another.

What is love?

Here's the problem with love... you can tell someone "I love you" until the end of time, and it can be bullshit. SAYING that you love someone, doesn't mean that you do.

So what is love?

It's difficult to define. The dictionary DOES, but most of us can agree that it doesn't seem to be enough. The Bible has a bunch of verses about love in 1 Corinthians 13 . But that's another list of rules that we can hold up and say that if we're arbitrarily following them... if we can cross them off our list... we've got the love thing down. God is pleased with us. And that strikes me as, once again, missing the point.

Do you tell your wife you love her and then never touch her? Do you tell your friend you love him and then in the next breath cuss him out or refuse to help him when he's in need? Does love call you stupid? Can you make love sick? Does love speak venomously to it's neighbor because he disagrees with it? Does love disrespect people by talking about what idiots they are? Does love stew in its own anger? Does love STAY angry?

As much as I'm not a Bible nut (anymore), I DO think that there were several things that Jesus had to say that made a hell of a lot of sense, and people STILL try to make his words a list of rules to follow.

The reason that I'm not a Christian, is that it was too difficult for me to be a Christian and NOT think that the point was to "follow a list of rules"... and find loopholes in them. Modern Christianity, from what I experienced, doesn't really facilitate loving others, ironically enough. There are people out there who are trying to change that, but there's a lot of "tradition" to fish through first. Do you need a guy standing at the front of a room full of people with a microphone shouting to you every Sunday to know how to love? And to know that love is important? No, not really. You KNOW how to love. And all that guy is giving you is more precepts to tick off of your list so that you don't have to worry about it anymore. And maybe, if you're lucky, he'll do your thinking for you.

I'm not saying that every pastor strives to do that or that every churchgoer is looking for that. I'm saying that THAT is what that model of worship facilitates, not actually loving people.

Love one another. As far as I could always tell as a Christian, that was the whole point. It was Jesus' self-proclaimed most important words. Not to forgive (although as I understand it, that's part of it.) Not be perfect or love perfectly. Not go to church every Sunday or even feed the poor and go out and volunteer. And definitely, DEFINITELY, not judge other people for not doing the things that you've decided are most loving.

And you don't have to tell people they're going to Hell to judge them. I'm judging someone right now, because I think that they're a jerk and a hypocrite. Yes, calling someone a hypocrite, BELIEVING that they're a hypocrite, is judgmental. And that doesn't make it "right". The fact that it sucks to be judged doesn't make it "wrong" either. But judging isn't loving. You can't love someone and judge someone in the same thought.

However... I'm not saying these things to judge people for not loving well enough. I'm not even here to say that anyone DOESN'T love well enough, or that if you do certain things or DON't do certain things, you're a shitty Christian.

I'm saying these things, because I see people get all caught up in the wrongs and rights and proving this correct and this incorrect and saying that they're Christ-followers... and, if I have ever understood anything about Christianity, friend, you are completely missing the point of your own religion.

And, despite not BEING a Christian, I have to tell you, your religion has a lot to offer you. A lot more than just feeling better about yourself because you're "doing things right".

That's just my thought.

Love,
Crystal