Jesus wasn’t satisfied with a ‘Shema’ kind of spirituality, a piety that made faithfulness into religiosity. Strikingly, as Scot McKnight (among others) has pointed out, Jesus adds the love your neighbor command to the traditional Jewish chant repeated every day (still today).
The Temptation of Devotion
Why? Isn’t loving God enough? Well, no, actually– depending on what you mean by loving God. Hirsch and Hirsch observe that
It has always been a temptation of religious people to see religion as purely devotion toward God. Jesus will not allow this. Discipleship in the way of Jesus must include the love of people”.1
This is why it strikes me as rather peculiar that even in missional material, discipleship practices often seem to have a ‘religious’ focus- Sunday services, memorizing Scripture, solitude, etc.
It’s not that we don’t do these things- we do. But surely a missional understanding of discipleship necessitates that these ‘love God’ practices take shape in, among, and with the neighborhood, and therefore, are consistently absorbed and integrated with ‘love your neighbor’ practices. Otherwise, are we not in danger of being pharisaical?
In contrast, The Jesus Creed moves us…
- from being so religious that we’re no earthly good;
- from a ‘follow the rules’ to a ‘follow Me’ faith;
- from ‘spiritual beliefs’ to Jesus’ activities- incarnating compassion, mercy, hospitality, peace and justice;
- from the love of law to the law of love
In fact, once we put on the Jesus Creed/great commandment (singular) lens, we begin to see that everything Jesus does and teaches illustrates this intention. We see that Jesus’ disciples his followers toward this shift in both His words and deeds throughout his ministry on earth.
Who Jesus Commends
Take for example the Good Samaritan. The religious are keeping the law, obeying the Torah, doing the religious, spiritual or right thing as they pass by. I suspect they even thought they were “loving God” with their response. Yet, the one whom Jesus commends is the Samaritan who breaks the religious law in order to keep the law of love for his neighbor!
In the stories of the Prodigal son, the woman caught in adultery, eating with tax collectors, touching lepers and so on, we observe again and again the contrast between the aghast religious folk, wanting to uphold the law and be religious, and Jesus practicing—and calling us to practice—the “law” of love.
Surprise, surprise, Jesus doesn’t care what position we hold in ‘the church’ or how many gold stars we got for memory verses. He cares about whether we love as He loves. Not just our neighbor but also our enemy. The other.
Jesus doesn’t care how many stars we got for memory verses. He cares if we love as He loves. Click To TweetThis shift in emphasis seems to resonate with our post-modern context in which grace and authenticity, not our titles or positions, ‘earn’ trust and respect; and in which relationships and community are understood as essential for nurturing not only social but personal well-being. Accordingly, McKnight asserts that “the Kingdom vision of Jesus is a Kingdom filled up with people who are noted by one word: love.”2
Oh, that our next door neighbors and the folks down the street– the politicians and the broadcasters– described followers of Jesus with one word, love.
- Hirsch and Hirsch, Untamed, 63.
- McKnight, One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow, 48.
Missio Alliance Comment Policy
The Missio Alliance Writing Collectives exist as a ministry of writing to resource theological practitioners for mission. From our Leading Voices to our regular Writing Team and those invited to publish with us as Community Voices, we are creating a space for thoughtful engagement of critical issues and questions facing the North American Church in God’s mission. This sort of thoughtful engagement is something that we seek to engender not only in our publishing, but in conversations that unfold as a result in the comment section of our articles.
Unfortunately, because of the relational distance introduced by online communication, “thoughtful engagement” and “comment sections” seldom go hand in hand. At the same time, censorship of comments by those who disagree with points made by authors, whose anger or limited perspective taints their words, or who simply feel the need to express their own opinion on a topic without any meaningful engagement with the article or comment in question can mask an important window into the true state of Christian discourse. As such, Missio Alliance sets forth the following suggestions for those who wish to engage in conversation around our writing:
1. Seek to understand the author’s intent.
If you disagree with something the an author said, consider framing your response as, “I hear you as saying _________. Am I understanding you correctly? If so, here’s why I disagree. _____________.
2. Seek to make your own voice heard.
We deeply desire and value the voice and perspective of our readers. However you may react to an article we publish or a fellow commenter, we encourage you to set forth that reaction is the most constructive way possible. Use your voice and perspective to move conversation forward rather than shut it down.
3. Share your story.
One of our favorite tenants is that “an enemy is someone whose story we haven’t heard.” Very often disagreements and rants are the result of people talking past rather than to one another. Everyone’s perspective is intimately bound up with their own stories – their contexts and experiences. We encourage you to couch your comments in whatever aspect of your own story might help others understand where you are coming from.
In view of those suggestions for shaping conversation on our site and in an effort to curate a hospitable space of open conversation, Missio Alliance may delete comments and/or ban users who show no regard for constructive engagement, especially those whose comments are easily construed as trolling, threatening, or abusive.