May 232012
 

(Some of us at ChristianMystics.com have recently been talking about Rev. Brian Robertson, who could be called the founder of our community.   I liked Brian’s forthright and unapologetic style, even if it was more confrontational than my own.  But I found myself inspired to write something that, somewhere along the line, caused me to chuckle as I realized I was reminding myself of Brian.  So, this one’s for you, Brian, wherever you are.)

That’s right, love is more important than Jesus.  Do you find that shocking?  Do you find it blasphemous?  I can understand if you do, but everything in my heart and mind tells me Jesus would agree.  Sure, there are words attributed to Jesus that make it sound like believing in him is the most important thing.  But what does it really mean to believe in him?  Does it mean to confess his name and praise him with our words and prayers?  Does believing in him mean going to church, tithing, and learning the Bible? Does it mean accepting particular theological doctrines about him as truths?

What does Jesus say it means to believe in him?  In my view, there should be no need to quote chapter and verse here.  It should be common knowledge among Christians that Jesus taught believing in him means doing as he did, loving as he loved.  When asked what the greatest law was, he didn’t talk about having historical knowledge or theological understandings of him; he simply and concisely talked about love.  When he talked about the judgment day, he didn’t say the sheep welcomed into Heaven’s fold would be those who called out his name and confessed him as savior; he said they would be those who genuinely, and thus actively, cared for others.

With all of this in mind, it makes sense to me that knowing the heart of Jesus, knowing the love that his followers said is God, is more important than knowing the story or name of Jesus of Nazareth.  Actually, in the deepest sense, love is his name and his story.  The extent to which our hearts are awakened to love is the extent to which we are one with the heart of Jesus; it is the extent to which his spirit lives in and through us, no matter what name we give to that spirit.  There is nothing about Christian mysticism more important to me than this.

Maranatha

Agape

  4 Responses to “Love is More Important than Jesus!”

  1. Hi Chuck-

    Loving your site, brother! I could not agree more- this is a discovery that is at the crux of human transformation, Love is Jesus, Jesus is Love!

    Well done in breaking the dogmatic, or sedentary clinging mind 🙂

    Blessings-
    Jason

  2. I was just thinking about Brian as I started my own blog. He helped me a lot when I began exploring a new way of defining what I thought about Christianity. I really appreciate your efforts here. It gives one a chance to not completely scrap the whole idea. My first experience with Christianity, many years ago, was St. Francis of Assisi. I was thinking yesterday about my very early years and how good it all felt…and how it got to feel so wrong. I know who Christ is, but I the religion called Christianity is, often, too far removed form its founder. I was just listening to Karen Armstrong yesterday and she said something very similar to what you have posted here. Jesus was never an ego maniac or tried to promote himself. How did we ever get from there to here?? Peace Profound.

  3. Hi Ninon,

    Thank you for your insightful and heartfelt comments. You reminded me of a previous post of mine: http://christianmystics.com/wayoftheheart/2010/12/21/who-owns-christianity/

    I took a look at your blog and I liked what I saw. Keep up the Great Work. 😉

    Agape,
    Chuck

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