“Jesus never added a asterisk to his commands to love God and love others. The religion of Christianity has added all the asterisks.”
I love the question today as it represents so many people. They have mostly kind hearts and good intentions, but they are so inside their box, they just don’t see how far from Jesus’ truth they and much of the church has drifted.
I write Dear Susan posts every Friday. Sometimes they will be poignant, sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes tender, sometimes funny… but hopefully always worth the read. 🙂
Here we go…
Dear Susan,
You said, “Jesus did not come to teach us Christianity, He came to teach us to love.” I don’t see a contradiction there. I see Christianity summed up like Jesus said … Love God with your whole self and love others as yourself. But “love” gets further defined as serving and accepting each other and speaking truth as we pursue God’s best for one another. Aren’t we supposed to want the best for each other?
Dear Reader:
They say that the most important thing anyone says is what comes AFTER the “but” – and after your “but” you said “love gets further defined…”
Defined by whom?!?
I like the idea of what you say, but practically the church has never carried it out. Remember, not long ago the church thought it was best for the races not to marry, for people to own slaves, for women not to vote, for women not to be in leadership at church — oops, sorry if I stepped on someone’s toes there — the list goes on.
Where your statement becomes impossible is when the church is the one determining what is “best for each other.” That is eating off of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, instead of the Tree of Life.
Jesus never added a asterisk to his commands to love God and love others. The religion of Christianity has added all the asterisks. Our job is to love God and love others, and trust the Spirit with everything else in our lives and in others.
Certainly, I concede that I have benefited by those who could speak in a loving way, as the Spirit moved them, and I was able to receive. I have done the same for others. But never have I benefited from someone with a heart of condemnation or correction… for me or as a blanket statement for a group of people.
Jesus doesn’t even do that — who are we to do it?
What Jesus taught, the way he interacted with people, his attitude toward the religious leaders and the religious establishment, his examples and statements about behavior and the law, how he forgave, are very different from today’s Christianity for the most part.
We must disentangle Jesus from Christianity in order to discover His truth. And it is his truth that will set you free.
– Susan
Susan Cottrell & FreedHearts 
…quite frankly, everyone’s right in their own eyes, every organization’s right in their own eyes, every group’s right in their own eyes, every religion’s right in their own eyes, the good angels are right, the evil angels are right, I am right in my own eyes, but really, what is right? We live in the most amazing times…evil is good; real good, good is evil; real evil! WOW! So Confused♥jjf
Apphiaone,
You are correct, every one’s perspective IS their reality.
There are many religions and books and ways to worship and follow Jesus. How ever, people are flawed and so some churches are flawed. It can be hard to see what is right. You can seek Christ on your own and he will help you find the way. The Jesus Spirit comes from with in, not from society. God knows the heart of an honest seeker. For those of us missing the mark, or not sticking the landing, he will meet us where we are.
Faith
I have had too many prayers answered and seen too much in the medical field NOT to be a believer.
The Grace and Love of Jesus really is comforting and freeing. It really is a peaceful place to live. I would rather live this way, then take a chance and NOT.
Evil is not good, and good is not evil. 🙂 🙂
Be Blessed
While you are judging others, God is judging you.
I do not want to be judged, because I would not allow some one to seek Christ.
When some Christians throw out scripture, and tell the LGBTQ community they are a sin, they are sinning, they are a condemnation, their life style is a condemnation…….what do you think the visceral response of the LGBTQ person is? Do you THINK the LGBTQ person wants to listen? Do you think they want to remain or become a Christian? Do you think they want to go to church or join a church? Do you think they want any thing to do with Christians or God? Do you think, they feel, we do want the best for them?
They probably do not. They most likely feel they have already lost their chance to even seek God because of the way they were born. 😦
The response must change.
I would like some heterosexual folks to write down their sins and let the LGBTQ folks tell them the same things. How would that make one feel? 😦 Honestly??
Some Christians need to back out of doing God’s job and pray to him and ask for specific instructions to reveal the way for all people to know the “Jesus Spirit” that is supposed to be “inside” of them.
Jesus street preached. To ALL. He said, I am the way. All are welcome, come as you are.
The two most important things I want you to do is to, “Love God, Love others.” He said we have a lot of work to do, then he walked on. He forced nothing. He let people follow him and work it out.
God sent his son to die for us because we as humans all fall short, (nutshell ) 🙂
IT IS BETWEEN GOD AND THAT PERSON IN THE END. We Christians need to carry our own crosses and help others grow CLOSER to Christ, by showing love and compassion, and no judgment.
God will work through us and we need to LET HIM.
That last bit, Susan: “We must disentangle Jesus from Christianity in order to discover His truth. And it is his truth that will set you free.” Can we get a megaphone and go stand on a hill and speak this on repeat…? I know, sounds unrealistic. And so we continue writing and living that sentence instead. Thank you.