Things Religion Says Are Important.
It seems to me that what religionists often tell us is important are such things as:
A. Doctrine
B. Rules
C. How well we follow their rules.
D. How involved we are in their organization/institution.
E. How well we accept their Authority.
Because they know what God wants.
From what I gather from the New Testament Jesus had a different list. Jesus’ list had to do more with relationships. Our relationship with God and one another.
He boiled it all down to one statement.: Love God with everything we are and to love others equally to our love for ourselves.
His followers reminded one another that he told them to love one another. Husbands were told to love their wives with a self-sacrificing love that Jesus demonstrated in his death on the cross for us.
In Jesus’ last meeting with his Disciples he prayed for them and us. He reminded them that He and the Father were one. He also prayed that we would be one with the Father and Son and that we would be one with other believers. This would prove to non-believers that Jesus really came from God. He told them to wash one another’s feet representing a life of servanthood that did not see yourself as better than others.
Jesus also taught that a mark of his presence in us was that we would take care of the needy, downtrodden and overlooked. “The least of these.” Years later the Apostle John reminded Jesus’ followers that their love should not just be words but real actions.
The two approaches seem to be worlds apart.
Which one do you follow?
C. J.