The Bottom Line

Read Matthew 22:34-40.


There is a perception out there that the Bible is just a list of rules. Do this. Don't do that. And really, really, really don't do that. Interestingly, the "this" and "that" differ depending on which group or individual you are talking to. By the time Jesus arrived, the religious leaders (the Pharisees in particular) really had reduced the whole of their Scriptures to a lot of do's and don'ts. There were 613 commandments, it was said, that each individual person was supposed to know, obey and follow. That's a whole lot more than the "top ten" that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai!

With that many commands, it's impossible not to break one or two from time to time. 613 is a lot to keep track of! How could you ever hope to follow all the rules? Yet there are modern-day Pharisees who seem to enjoy pointing out every person's infractions of the perceived rules that the Bible puts forth. We continue to pour forth "do this" and "don't do that" religious teaching. It can make a person paranoid.

Jesus was once asked what the most important commandment was. Out of all 613, which one was the one you had to absolutely keep? (The unspoken hope in the question is this: if you keep the ONE, maybe you can break or bend the others.) Jesus didn't hesitate or waver. He went right to the heart of the matter, the bottom line: love God, love others. And while that sounds like two commands (did Jesus cheat on the assignment?), it's really two sides of one command. You love God by loving others, and you can only love others when you love God. We might write it this way: Love GodOthers. Or, maybe just this way: Love.

More recently, Andy Stanley has challenged the church to move away from legalism by asking the question of every action and every position: what does love require? In doing this or that, am I loving God and loving others? What does love require? That simple question has the potential to radically change our world, our attitudes, our viewpoints and our actions. What does love require?

What if Jesus' command really did become our bottom line in everything? What might our world and the world look like then?

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