Human philosophy is addicted to false dichotomies. We often make sense of the world by making dangerous distinctions. We reduce the inherent complexity of life to create simple either/or realities.
Maybe you have heard, “Either support this new law or you’re advocating for chaos.” “Either you believe in science or reject the facts for your personal opinion.” “Either you support handouts to the poor or leave them to starve.” Each of these statements ignores more nuanced approaches. They try to create two exclusive categories with no other available options for how you conceptualize or engage in the world.
Simple dichotomies can help us see distinct variables to consider and assimilate, but they can also be used to control us. Perpetrators of either/or propositions are often trying to push an agenda. They want to force you into supporting their party or preference. Or set you up to be an easy enemy to take down and demean. Jesus’ opponents employed this strategy repeatedly.
Maybe you have heard, “Either support this new law or you’re advocating for chaos.” “Either you believe in science or reject the facts for your personal opinion.” “Either you support handouts to the poor or leave them to starve.” Each of these statements ignores more nuanced approaches. They try to create two exclusive categories with no other available options for how you conceptualize or engage in the world.
Simple dichotomies can help us see distinct variables to consider and assimilate, but they can also be used to control us. Perpetrators of either/or propositions are often trying to push an agenda. They want to force you into supporting their party or preference. Or set you up to be an easy enemy to take down and demean. Jesus’ opponents employed this strategy repeatedly.
Trying to Trap Jesus
In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees and Sadducees controlled how Jewish people categorized and applied God’s law. That hegemony preserved their position as arbiters of the truth and leaders of the people. But Jesus’ reimagination of what God is all about and his public critique of the leadership’s power abuse drew their ire. He threatened their power on top of the religio-political pedestal. So the Pharisees and Sadducees who controlled the Jewish High Council set out to take him down.
Late in Jesus’ career, Matthew 22 captures repeated attempts to trick Jesus into saying something worthy of death. Pharisees lobbed questions about the legality of Roman taxation (Matt 22:15-22), and Sadducees challenged him with theological conundrums about an afterlife they didn’t even believe in (Matt 22:23-33)! Jesus brilliantly navigated each mind bender leaving them amazed and astounded.
After two failed attempts to confound Jesus, one expert in religious law decided to trap Jesus with a question about the law. His strategy relied on reductionistic thinking. He was going to make Jesus pick which law held the most importance. So he asked, “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” (Matt 22:36). Whatever Jesus answered would open him up to the critique of dismissing the rest of the Law. And anyone who spoke against the Law was worthy of death.
Jesus’ Summary of Jewish Law
In Jesus’ response, he did choose one command above all the other commandments in the Jewish Law. He said the “first and great commandment” is to love God (Matt 22:37). That seems like a pretty good choice, but he didn’t stop there. He added a second one like the first: “Love your neighbor like you love yourself” (Matt 22:39). And before his expert interlocutor could accuse him of denigrating the other commands in the law of Moses, Jesus concluded, “The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matt 22:40). Now let’s dig into the details.
A strange moment in Jesus’ two-part response appears between the two commands. In a short transition sentence, he claimed: the second commandment is “like the first.” But how does that make sense? Sure both commands are about love, but they have distinct objects: God and people. So how is loving people “like” loving God?
If you have ever studied Jewish law, you may have heard a common dichotomy used to organize the Ten Commandments. It goes like this: the first four commands are about our vertical relationship with God (have no other gods, make no idols, don’t misuse God’s name, etc.) and the last six direct our horizontal relationships with people (don’t murder, steal, covet, etc.). Dividing up the Ten Commandments into two simple categories makes it easy for us to understand our vertical and horizontal responsibilities, but should we interject such an artificial division into God’s commands?
Jesus thought how we treat people is “like” how we treat God. So maybe we should explore their connection rather than create another false dichotomy. So how are those two actions related in Jesus’ mind?
If we look at Jesus’ response to the first trap question in Matthew 22, we begin to find an answer. When asked about whether Jews should pay taxes to the Romans, Jesus instructed his challengers to look at the image on a Roman coin. Then he explained, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God” (Matt 22:21). While answering their question about whether to give Roman coins stamped with the image of Caesar back to Caesar, Jesus slips in a profound theological parallel for what to do with anything bearing the image of God. If something has God’s image, it should be devoted to God. And what bears God’s image? Only one thing in the entire Bible: people.
People are God’s image on earth. We represent God. We were designed to implement his orders on planet earth. Genesis 1:26 explains how we were made in God’s image “so that” or “for the purpose of” reigning over everything in the natural world. We were created to make sure everything down here happened the way God wanted up there.
That idea was both similar to and profoundly differentiated from neighboring nations in the Ancient Near East. Egypt, Babylon, and the Assyrians all believed their pharaohs and kings represented God. They were God’s image chosen to exercise his authority on earth. The Bible parallels this common idea of individuals enacting God’s order on earth, but it wildly diverges from the cultural norm. Instead of just one powerful king representing God, Genesis upends the entire social order. The Hebrew Scriptures label every man and woman as the image of God! That changes everything. It raised the standard for the Hebrews higher than all surrounding cultures. It means we don’t just treat the king like he’s divine; we must treat every person like we would treat God!
That shocking anthropological innovation among the Israelites informed Jesus’ view of loving God and people. They weren’t separated. You couldn’t love God but mistreat his images. They were inextricably linked. Loving people is just like loving God. Every command from God about how to treat people is a command about how to treat God. And that message permeates the teaching of Jesus and his first followers in a way you might not have noticed before.
You Did It For Me
When Jesus told a parable about his future discernment between the righteous and the wicked in Matthew 25:31-46, he used one piercing question: Did people compassionately take care of Jesus when he was struggling? Matthew 25:34-36 explains how righteous people had fed the king (who represents Jesus in the parable) when he was hungry, or gave him a drink, or clothed him, or invited him into their home, or visited him in prison or when he was sick. Their compassionate action in vulnerable times meant they were welcomed into his kingdom. It seems like a clear standard, but the people in the parable are confused by it. They couldn’t remember a time when the king was in any of those situations.
But then Jesus drops the Jewish anthropological innovation on them: “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). Jesus knew that we tend to think loving people is just loving people. But he wanted the norm-defying Genesis anthropology to reshape our imagination. People represent God. So when we compassionately care for struggling people, we are caring for Jesus himself. Loving people is loving God.
Jesus’ first followers got the message. You can’t love God if you don’t love people. John wrote in his first epistle, “If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen. The command that Christ has given us is this: whoever loves God must love others also” (1 John 4:20-21). John knew Jesus had inseparably connected the two actions. In fact, since loving people was where the rubber meets the road, John records another time when Jesus just eliminates the “love God” command from the essential indicator of a faithful follower. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Because if you love people, you are loving God.
Jesus’ summary of everything God requires of you in the command “love one another” wasn’t novel among Jewish rabbis. When Rabbi Hillel was challenged by a Gentile to teach him the whole law while standing on one foot (which would have been a sight to see!), he responded: “Whatever is hateful to you, don’t do to your neighbor. That’s the whole Law; the rest is commentary. Go and study.” Rabbi Akiva stated the same thing in the more positive construction Jesus used: “Love your neighbor as yourself is the major principle of the Law.”[1] All of these rabbis agreed: Loving people is the core of God’s commands. That centerpiece in the web of everything God wants for us shows us where to focus.
Measuring Disciples
Christian ministries often struggle to choose spiritual metrics. The conundrum is simple: how do you measure if someone has become a disciple of Jesus? Most ministries want to make disciples, but they struggle to discern if they have succeeded. Historically, ministries have settled for unsatisfactory metrics about one-time moments in a person’s life: a prayer of repentance, a hand raised in the air, a decision card, or a baptism. But these momentary actions don’t tell us if someone has become a true disciple of Jesus.
Thankfully, Jesus didn’t just command us to make disciples; he also told us how to measure it. John 13:35 plainly states: “people will know you are my disciples if you love one another.” So if we want to assess the effectiveness of discipleship strategies, we can measure concrete acts of love.
One agricultural development ministry, Plant With Purpose, has devised an excellent metric for measuring “love of neighbor.” Although their programs focus on teaching advanced agricultural techniques and good financial stewardship to rural farmers, Plant With Purpose also wants to make disciples who love their neighbor. That’s why they measure the percentage of people in their programs sharing newfound agricultural insights with their neighbors. When their programs work among communities stuck in extreme poverty, people eat twice as many meals, plant three times as many crop types, save 4X more than before, and increase trees on their property 10X, but they also see 50% growth in the number of people sharing their new agricultural skills with their neighbors. Trained farmers are training their neighbors.
Sharing knowledge that improves a neighbor’s health and economic condition is a concrete way to love your neighbor. And Plant With Purpose knows this tangible service toward neighbors is meaningful because they also track the economic, agricultural, and environmental improvement among the neighbors of program participants. It’s no surprise the neighbors experience statistical improvements to their multi-dimensional poverty scores! Since one of the core tenants of the Plant With Purpose program is spiritual renewal, the rigorous measurement of loving neighbors—by sharing transformative skills—measures their success in disciple-making.
More ministries who desire to make disciples could similarly craft methods to count concrete acts of love. They could track gifts given to neighbors, lessons taught to neighbors, and acts of kindness toward neighbors. Loaning tools, sharing clean water, and inviting a neighbor to join your savings group are all meaningful spiritual metrics. These tangible means of loving other people represent actual evidence your programs teach people to love God. If these actions were measured, then ministry outcome reports could change from one-time, spiritual decisions to concrete acts of love demonstrating the fruit of God‘s work in people’s lives. We wouldn’t have to wonder if new disciples love God because we could see how many are tangibly loving the image of God.
Trying to Love God without Loving People
Both the Old and New Testaments rebuke people who try to love God without loving people. The prophet Isaiah paints an entire scene from the Jerusalem Temple of wealthy Israelites praying, fasting, and worshipping God. They dressed in sackcloth to humble themselves before the Lord. The coarse, uncomfortable fabric made from goat or camel hair was designed to outwardly display an inner turmoil. When combined with ashes or dust on the head, it indicated sorrow for sins committed. Isaiah recognizes their efforts to “seek” God and their desire “for God to come near to them” (Isaiah 58:2). Sounds good right? These people must love God.
But how does Isaiah respond to the scene? He calls out their misguided attempt to love God without loving people! Isaiah 58:3 dissects the situation, “The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own economic interests and exploit your workers.” Although they acted humble and repentant for sins, they were flagrantly violating God’s commands at the same time. Isaiah goes on to describe how they get hangry from fasting and start fighting with each other (see Isaiah 58:4). While they’re worshipping God, they’re abusing people. Isaiah reveals what kind of people act this way when they fast: selfish jerks just trying to honor God so they can benefit themselves.
Isaiah rhetorically asks: “Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?” (Isaiah 58:4 GNT). The obvious answer is NO. God doesn’t care if you bow down low in prayer and seek His presence if you aren’t loving people. Although it’s shocking for us to read, God literally won’t even listen to your prayers! That’s a wild statement from God.
So if God won’t respond to intensely practiced spiritual disciplines like fasting when you are mistreating other people, what is God looking for from truly devoted followers? The answer to this question matters. Isaiah says a few verses later that people who figure it out will have their prayers answered (see Isaiah 58:9). So what is it? Isaiah 58:6-7 GNT summarizes God’s desire:
In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees and Sadducees controlled how Jewish people categorized and applied God’s law. That hegemony preserved their position as arbiters of the truth and leaders of the people. But Jesus’ reimagination of what God is all about and his public critique of the leadership’s power abuse drew their ire. He threatened their power on top of the religio-political pedestal. So the Pharisees and Sadducees who controlled the Jewish High Council set out to take him down.
Late in Jesus’ career, Matthew 22 captures repeated attempts to trick Jesus into saying something worthy of death. Pharisees lobbed questions about the legality of Roman taxation (Matt 22:15-22), and Sadducees challenged him with theological conundrums about an afterlife they didn’t even believe in (Matt 22:23-33)! Jesus brilliantly navigated each mind bender leaving them amazed and astounded.
After two failed attempts to confound Jesus, one expert in religious law decided to trap Jesus with a question about the law. His strategy relied on reductionistic thinking. He was going to make Jesus pick which law held the most importance. So he asked, “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” (Matt 22:36). Whatever Jesus answered would open him up to the critique of dismissing the rest of the Law. And anyone who spoke against the Law was worthy of death.
Jesus’ Summary of Jewish Law
In Jesus’ response, he did choose one command above all the other commandments in the Jewish Law. He said the “first and great commandment” is to love God (Matt 22:37). That seems like a pretty good choice, but he didn’t stop there. He added a second one like the first: “Love your neighbor like you love yourself” (Matt 22:39). And before his expert interlocutor could accuse him of denigrating the other commands in the law of Moses, Jesus concluded, “The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matt 22:40). Now let’s dig into the details.
A strange moment in Jesus’ two-part response appears between the two commands. In a short transition sentence, he claimed: the second commandment is “like the first.” But how does that make sense? Sure both commands are about love, but they have distinct objects: God and people. So how is loving people “like” loving God?
If you have ever studied Jewish law, you may have heard a common dichotomy used to organize the Ten Commandments. It goes like this: the first four commands are about our vertical relationship with God (have no other gods, make no idols, don’t misuse God’s name, etc.) and the last six direct our horizontal relationships with people (don’t murder, steal, covet, etc.). Dividing up the Ten Commandments into two simple categories makes it easy for us to understand our vertical and horizontal responsibilities, but should we interject such an artificial division into God’s commands?
Jesus thought how we treat people is “like” how we treat God. So maybe we should explore their connection rather than create another false dichotomy. So how are those two actions related in Jesus’ mind?
If we look at Jesus’ response to the first trap question in Matthew 22, we begin to find an answer. When asked about whether Jews should pay taxes to the Romans, Jesus instructed his challengers to look at the image on a Roman coin. Then he explained, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God” (Matt 22:21). While answering their question about whether to give Roman coins stamped with the image of Caesar back to Caesar, Jesus slips in a profound theological parallel for what to do with anything bearing the image of God. If something has God’s image, it should be devoted to God. And what bears God’s image? Only one thing in the entire Bible: people.
People are God’s image on earth. We represent God. We were designed to implement his orders on planet earth. Genesis 1:26 explains how we were made in God’s image “so that” or “for the purpose of” reigning over everything in the natural world. We were created to make sure everything down here happened the way God wanted up there.
That idea was both similar to and profoundly differentiated from neighboring nations in the Ancient Near East. Egypt, Babylon, and the Assyrians all believed their pharaohs and kings represented God. They were God’s image chosen to exercise his authority on earth. The Bible parallels this common idea of individuals enacting God’s order on earth, but it wildly diverges from the cultural norm. Instead of just one powerful king representing God, Genesis upends the entire social order. The Hebrew Scriptures label every man and woman as the image of God! That changes everything. It raised the standard for the Hebrews higher than all surrounding cultures. It means we don’t just treat the king like he’s divine; we must treat every person like we would treat God!
That shocking anthropological innovation among the Israelites informed Jesus’ view of loving God and people. They weren’t separated. You couldn’t love God but mistreat his images. They were inextricably linked. Loving people is just like loving God. Every command from God about how to treat people is a command about how to treat God. And that message permeates the teaching of Jesus and his first followers in a way you might not have noticed before.
You Did It For Me
When Jesus told a parable about his future discernment between the righteous and the wicked in Matthew 25:31-46, he used one piercing question: Did people compassionately take care of Jesus when he was struggling? Matthew 25:34-36 explains how righteous people had fed the king (who represents Jesus in the parable) when he was hungry, or gave him a drink, or clothed him, or invited him into their home, or visited him in prison or when he was sick. Their compassionate action in vulnerable times meant they were welcomed into his kingdom. It seems like a clear standard, but the people in the parable are confused by it. They couldn’t remember a time when the king was in any of those situations.
But then Jesus drops the Jewish anthropological innovation on them: “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). Jesus knew that we tend to think loving people is just loving people. But he wanted the norm-defying Genesis anthropology to reshape our imagination. People represent God. So when we compassionately care for struggling people, we are caring for Jesus himself. Loving people is loving God.
Jesus’ first followers got the message. You can’t love God if you don’t love people. John wrote in his first epistle, “If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen. The command that Christ has given us is this: whoever loves God must love others also” (1 John 4:20-21). John knew Jesus had inseparably connected the two actions. In fact, since loving people was where the rubber meets the road, John records another time when Jesus just eliminates the “love God” command from the essential indicator of a faithful follower. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Because if you love people, you are loving God.
Jesus’ summary of everything God requires of you in the command “love one another” wasn’t novel among Jewish rabbis. When Rabbi Hillel was challenged by a Gentile to teach him the whole law while standing on one foot (which would have been a sight to see!), he responded: “Whatever is hateful to you, don’t do to your neighbor. That’s the whole Law; the rest is commentary. Go and study.” Rabbi Akiva stated the same thing in the more positive construction Jesus used: “Love your neighbor as yourself is the major principle of the Law.”[1] All of these rabbis agreed: Loving people is the core of God’s commands. That centerpiece in the web of everything God wants for us shows us where to focus.
Measuring Disciples
Christian ministries often struggle to choose spiritual metrics. The conundrum is simple: how do you measure if someone has become a disciple of Jesus? Most ministries want to make disciples, but they struggle to discern if they have succeeded. Historically, ministries have settled for unsatisfactory metrics about one-time moments in a person’s life: a prayer of repentance, a hand raised in the air, a decision card, or a baptism. But these momentary actions don’t tell us if someone has become a true disciple of Jesus.
Thankfully, Jesus didn’t just command us to make disciples; he also told us how to measure it. John 13:35 plainly states: “people will know you are my disciples if you love one another.” So if we want to assess the effectiveness of discipleship strategies, we can measure concrete acts of love.
One agricultural development ministry, Plant With Purpose, has devised an excellent metric for measuring “love of neighbor.” Although their programs focus on teaching advanced agricultural techniques and good financial stewardship to rural farmers, Plant With Purpose also wants to make disciples who love their neighbor. That’s why they measure the percentage of people in their programs sharing newfound agricultural insights with their neighbors. When their programs work among communities stuck in extreme poverty, people eat twice as many meals, plant three times as many crop types, save 4X more than before, and increase trees on their property 10X, but they also see 50% growth in the number of people sharing their new agricultural skills with their neighbors. Trained farmers are training their neighbors.
Sharing knowledge that improves a neighbor’s health and economic condition is a concrete way to love your neighbor. And Plant With Purpose knows this tangible service toward neighbors is meaningful because they also track the economic, agricultural, and environmental improvement among the neighbors of program participants. It’s no surprise the neighbors experience statistical improvements to their multi-dimensional poverty scores! Since one of the core tenants of the Plant With Purpose program is spiritual renewal, the rigorous measurement of loving neighbors—by sharing transformative skills—measures their success in disciple-making.
More ministries who desire to make disciples could similarly craft methods to count concrete acts of love. They could track gifts given to neighbors, lessons taught to neighbors, and acts of kindness toward neighbors. Loaning tools, sharing clean water, and inviting a neighbor to join your savings group are all meaningful spiritual metrics. These tangible means of loving other people represent actual evidence your programs teach people to love God. If these actions were measured, then ministry outcome reports could change from one-time, spiritual decisions to concrete acts of love demonstrating the fruit of God‘s work in people’s lives. We wouldn’t have to wonder if new disciples love God because we could see how many are tangibly loving the image of God.
Trying to Love God without Loving People
Both the Old and New Testaments rebuke people who try to love God without loving people. The prophet Isaiah paints an entire scene from the Jerusalem Temple of wealthy Israelites praying, fasting, and worshipping God. They dressed in sackcloth to humble themselves before the Lord. The coarse, uncomfortable fabric made from goat or camel hair was designed to outwardly display an inner turmoil. When combined with ashes or dust on the head, it indicated sorrow for sins committed. Isaiah recognizes their efforts to “seek” God and their desire “for God to come near to them” (Isaiah 58:2). Sounds good right? These people must love God.
But how does Isaiah respond to the scene? He calls out their misguided attempt to love God without loving people! Isaiah 58:3 dissects the situation, “The truth is that at the same time you fast, you pursue your own economic interests and exploit your workers.” Although they acted humble and repentant for sins, they were flagrantly violating God’s commands at the same time. Isaiah goes on to describe how they get hangry from fasting and start fighting with each other (see Isaiah 58:4). While they’re worshipping God, they’re abusing people. Isaiah reveals what kind of people act this way when they fast: selfish jerks just trying to honor God so they can benefit themselves.
Isaiah rhetorically asks: “Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers?” (Isaiah 58:4 GNT). The obvious answer is NO. God doesn’t care if you bow down low in prayer and seek His presence if you aren’t loving people. Although it’s shocking for us to read, God literally won’t even listen to your prayers! That’s a wild statement from God.
So if God won’t respond to intensely practiced spiritual disciplines like fasting when you are mistreating other people, what is God looking for from truly devoted followers? The answer to this question matters. Isaiah says a few verses later that people who figure it out will have their prayers answered (see Isaiah 58:9). So what is it? Isaiah 58:6-7 GNT summarizes God’s desire:
“The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of exploitation and the yoke of injustice and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.”
Wow. He doesn’t mention a single ritual act of worship. God didn’t want these privileged Temple worshippers to fast longer or pray harder or sing praises louder. He wanted them to stop abusing their power and hoarding their assets. Pay workers more. Stop using folks on the bottom of the ladder to bolster profits for people on top. Don’t foreclose on loans to struggling people so that you can confiscate their assets. People who have homes and clothing and other resources should take care of the “have nots” not take from them. These particularly selfish bastards weren’t even helping their own blood relatives! It’s the same problem Jesus ran into among religious impostors who had dedicated their assets to God so that they wouldn’t have to share them with aging parents (see Mark 7:11-13).
We have not taken this message from Isaiah 58 seriously enough. We have been happy to imagine a world where we could love God through our personal acts of devotion and worship. But that self-delusion doesn’t make it right. It’s time to tackle this false dichotomy in our faith. It’s time to resurrect the spiritual discipline of loving your neighbor, especially the ones struggling economically. We need to erase the idea that you can seek God without seeking the good of the poor. We need to stop praying for our prosperity when we aren’t paying people a living wage. We need to replace spending time in our devotions with being devoted to spending our money to lift people out of poverty. Isaiah’s prophetic critique must correct our self-indulgent spirituality.
A Bifurcated Bullshit Gospel
Evangelical Christians have propagated a “gospel” where you can “get right with God” without treating people right. That should never be. Too many churches teach Christians to “spend time with Jesus”—reading their Bible and praying—without ever mentioning God won’t listen if you aren’t loving people. Our hope in a Gospel which reconciles the world has been hijacked by an individualized spiritual experience. Growing in your faith has devolved into devotions and discussions rather than actions to love the people around you. It’s time to eradicate this bullshit gospel of personal spirituality without a social reality.
But you might say: isn’t the Gospel about the hope of eternal life for all who believe? Yes! That’s what John 3:16 says. But do you know how John determines if someone has received the life Jesus offers? 1 John 3:14 explains, “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.” Life and love are inseparable. Loving people is the visible indicator of the new life Jesus provides.
As 1 John 3:15 goes on to explain about people who hate rather than love, “Those who hate others are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life in them!” Eternal life expresses itself in love for one another. You might have been told that “eternal life” is about the length of time you could live in heaven, but John makes it about the quality of life together on earth. People with eternal life care for instead of coerce each other. Real life is a series of loving actions. Now that Gospel of eternal life is truly good news for everyone who experiences it!
So let’s put the Gospel back together again. Let’s reconnect love of God with love of neighbor. It’s time to dismantle the false dichotomy between God and His images.
The Spiritual Discipline of Loving People
How do we redefine Christian discipleship when we recognize loving people is loving God?
Let’s get a few things straight. Spending time in prayer is no longer more spiritual than spending your savings to pay off someone’s medical bill. Reading the Bible isn’t more faith-forming than reading a book to your aging, vision-impaired parents. Fasting from food isn’t a better discipline than sharing your food with a hungry stranger. Jesus himself quoted the prophet Hosea to celebrate compassion over ritual. He said, “go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Hosea 6:6). Hosea, and then Jesus when he quotes him in Matthew 9:13, elevated kindness over the most common expression of devotion to God in the Temple!
What if you replaced your 15-minute devotional time with time spent repairing a friend’s appliance who can’t afford to pay a professional service? You would be loving God the whole time you are loving people. You would be reckoning with the fact that your entire devotional life could be worthless if you aren’t caring for the distressed. What if you stopped praying for your business to grow and started reviewing your compensation packages? It doesn’t sound spiritual, but it’s exactly what Isaiah told praying people to do. And it might actually be what’s needed for God to hear your next prayer.
Maybe giving respite to some foster parents on Sunday morning honors God more than going to church. Maybe writing a letter of encouragement is better communion with God than writing in your prayer journal. The kingdom materializes when I treat people the way I’d want to be treated. So let’s revolutionize our discipleship process to make space for becoming the kind of disciples Jesus envisioned in the world—disciples known for loving one another. That’s how you know if someone loves God; they love you.
[1] Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim 9:4
We have not taken this message from Isaiah 58 seriously enough. We have been happy to imagine a world where we could love God through our personal acts of devotion and worship. But that self-delusion doesn’t make it right. It’s time to tackle this false dichotomy in our faith. It’s time to resurrect the spiritual discipline of loving your neighbor, especially the ones struggling economically. We need to erase the idea that you can seek God without seeking the good of the poor. We need to stop praying for our prosperity when we aren’t paying people a living wage. We need to replace spending time in our devotions with being devoted to spending our money to lift people out of poverty. Isaiah’s prophetic critique must correct our self-indulgent spirituality.
A Bifurcated Bullshit Gospel
Evangelical Christians have propagated a “gospel” where you can “get right with God” without treating people right. That should never be. Too many churches teach Christians to “spend time with Jesus”—reading their Bible and praying—without ever mentioning God won’t listen if you aren’t loving people. Our hope in a Gospel which reconciles the world has been hijacked by an individualized spiritual experience. Growing in your faith has devolved into devotions and discussions rather than actions to love the people around you. It’s time to eradicate this bullshit gospel of personal spirituality without a social reality.
But you might say: isn’t the Gospel about the hope of eternal life for all who believe? Yes! That’s what John 3:16 says. But do you know how John determines if someone has received the life Jesus offers? 1 John 3:14 explains, “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.” Life and love are inseparable. Loving people is the visible indicator of the new life Jesus provides.
As 1 John 3:15 goes on to explain about people who hate rather than love, “Those who hate others are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life in them!” Eternal life expresses itself in love for one another. You might have been told that “eternal life” is about the length of time you could live in heaven, but John makes it about the quality of life together on earth. People with eternal life care for instead of coerce each other. Real life is a series of loving actions. Now that Gospel of eternal life is truly good news for everyone who experiences it!
So let’s put the Gospel back together again. Let’s reconnect love of God with love of neighbor. It’s time to dismantle the false dichotomy between God and His images.
The Spiritual Discipline of Loving People
How do we redefine Christian discipleship when we recognize loving people is loving God?
Let’s get a few things straight. Spending time in prayer is no longer more spiritual than spending your savings to pay off someone’s medical bill. Reading the Bible isn’t more faith-forming than reading a book to your aging, vision-impaired parents. Fasting from food isn’t a better discipline than sharing your food with a hungry stranger. Jesus himself quoted the prophet Hosea to celebrate compassion over ritual. He said, “go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Hosea 6:6). Hosea, and then Jesus when he quotes him in Matthew 9:13, elevated kindness over the most common expression of devotion to God in the Temple!
What if you replaced your 15-minute devotional time with time spent repairing a friend’s appliance who can’t afford to pay a professional service? You would be loving God the whole time you are loving people. You would be reckoning with the fact that your entire devotional life could be worthless if you aren’t caring for the distressed. What if you stopped praying for your business to grow and started reviewing your compensation packages? It doesn’t sound spiritual, but it’s exactly what Isaiah told praying people to do. And it might actually be what’s needed for God to hear your next prayer.
Maybe giving respite to some foster parents on Sunday morning honors God more than going to church. Maybe writing a letter of encouragement is better communion with God than writing in your prayer journal. The kingdom materializes when I treat people the way I’d want to be treated. So let’s revolutionize our discipleship process to make space for becoming the kind of disciples Jesus envisioned in the world—disciples known for loving one another. That’s how you know if someone loves God; they love you.
[1] Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim 9:4
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