I often feel like correcting people.
Some people eat dessert before dinner. They relax when they should be working. They look busy when it’s time to take a break. They drink coffee right before bedtime and run the TV on a ridiculous noise level. And they don’t shut off the lights when they leave the room! There are a million reasons to get upset with and want to correct those around us.
We see Christians doing it everyday: Politicians. Muslims. Sinners. Weird denominations.
The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law used to hang around Jesus to watch and see whether He would break their traditions. Like washing hands before eating. That was all they could see, even though Jesus walked on water, healed the masses of sicknesses, and exercised great authority over evil. They couldn’t see past the rules. They were willing to throw out what mattered to God for the sake of petty externals.
People got offended with Jesus because He didn’t conform to their norms. Operating from a kingdom perspective can be offensive at times. It is often counter-intuitive. Sinners are treated like friends, women are treated with honor and value, lepers are touched, and status quo gets rocked.
But one guy “got” it. Here’s what happened:
“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked Him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?
‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’
‘Well said, teacher,’ the man replied. ‘You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.’
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’”
(Mark 12:28-34)
This guy had caught the point. Jesus told him that because he had seen the most important thing he was now close to the kingdom of God. Love trumps anything else we do to impress God and others through our religious efforts. Love starts with God, not us (1 John 4:19). And love is a gift we receive by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). God is love, and we can’t side-step love if we want Him.
What are we looking for when we observe other people? I recently heard someone make this statement: “Islam is not a problem, but a promise.” Wow, way to see from a kingdom angle! I bet we won’t hear that in the mainstream news any time soon.
Debating details and minor issues is never going to get us closer to the Lord. That is why Paul warned Timothy to never get entangled in it (2 Timothy 2:23). Taking sides and praying against those on the “wrong” side is never going to score us any points with Love Himself. If we want to get closer to the kingdom of God, we must learn to get past worthless distractions and embrace the One Thing that matters.
Love.
We gain nothing without it, regardless of apparent success. It means being patient and kind to people we don’t agree with. It means to stop talking arrogantly and proudly about how others are wrong and we are right. It means we honor those who really don’t deserve it. And it means to quit reacting with anger whenever someone does something we don’t like. It means treating other people according to their destiny, not their history. We miss it if we don’t.
The people who couldn’t handle Jesus were the ones who believed God was after their external religious stuff. Dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. It is possible to do everything “perfectly” and yet miss the point. Like the rich ruler who walked away from Jesus sad, even though he had done everything he could on his part to get to heaven.
Will we will we end up walking away from the kingdom with sadness, realizing we did everything but missed the One Thing that mattered? Or will we move closer to the kingdom of God through making the main thing the main thing?
