“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-34, & Luke 10:25-28 (The GREAT COMMANDMENT)
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. – Matthew 28:19-20 (The GREAT COMMISSION)
“We all make errors in our theology; you and I both. So my recommendation is to err on the side of love. Why? Because… God is not doctrine. God is not denomination God is not war God is not hate God is not hell… God is Love.” – Brian Zahnd
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
I recently posted this on my Facebook page:
When Christians (and Christianity) get into trouble and do great harm it’s when we think the Great Commission supersedes the Great Commandment.
It is worth noting, I think, that if you look up The Great Commission in Wikipedia, the very first thing you read is this:
“Not to be confused with The Great Commandment.”
We should strive for a balance between sharing our religious convictions with others and being humble enough to admit that we could learn something from them as they share what they believe (and, perhaps, what they don’t believe.) None of us like it when someone else attacks, demeans, or tries to invalidate our dearly held beliefs, and so we need to guard against arrogantly and heavy-handedly doing that to a neighbor.
If we forget love, we can erroneously turn “make disciples” into “coerce conversion”; and we can turn “teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you” into “force them to comply.” In everything we are to emulate Jesus, who never forced anyone to follow him. As we strive to “teach”, we should remember that the greatest teaching tool that Jesus employed was his own example. Rather than mandating behaviors that everyone else should follow, we should make it our business to live our lives in such ways that others are drawn to live similarly. If our own Christian walk is not compelling as a model, we have no business forcing or shaming anyone else to change their lives to suit our own standards.
Here are some examples of aggressive Great Commission efforts with little or no Great Commandment moderation:
- “I need you to know you are in danger of going to hell” and similar pronouncements.
- The Doctrine of Discovery and resulting Conquests of lands and peoples; making/forcing conversions at the threat of death.
- The Crusades: “winning back” the Holy Land and killing “enemies” of other faiths who refused to convert to our “one, true faith”.
- The Spanish Inquisition: a judicial institution that operated as part of the Catholic Church’s effort to identify and punish heresy. The Inquisition’s main goal was to ensure that people who converted from Judaism or Islam to Catholicism had done so properly.
- Modern Antigay “Conversion Therapies” (some of which implement outright torture techniques.)
- Compulsory Christian group prayer and mandating the posting of Christian scriptures or teaching the Bible in public schools.
- Attempts to eradicate and culturally cleanse indigenous peoples in the United States, labeling them as “heathens”.
- American Christian Nationalism: with aims to use governmental force to create and maintain a Christian dominance against growing secularism and the rise of other religious groups.
Here are some examples of aggressive Great Commandment actions with little or no Great Commission goals: (What happens with “too much love” and “not enough disciple-making”.)
- An understanding that God says “Just love them all, and I’ll sort them out later”
- Christian Hospitals
- Christian Soup Kitchens
- Christian Orphanages
- Christian Disaster Relief Agencies
- Our own Easter Breakfasts and or Trunk or Treat Celebrations with no required preaching or teaching (no proselytizing); only showing hospitality and sharing joy-filled activities.
I’ve seen versions of this online, and I think Jesus would approve:
“A Pastor, a Priest, a Rabbi, and an Imam walked into a bar. They sat together and laughed, joked, shared stories, and enjoyed their time together – because none of them were jerks.”
Let’s always lead with love. Let’s be motivated by love. Let’s feel free to share Jesus in love; and never through coercion. Let’s try to avoid being Jerks for Jesus.