Christianity is not the religion of Jesus. This may sound like a radical statement, but hear me out: What we call "Christianity" today bears little resemblance to what Jesus of Nazareth actually taught and practiced.
As the great theologian Howard Thurman pointed out, we must distinguish between the "religion about Jesus"—what Christianity has become—and the "religion of Jesus"—the faith Jesus himself actually lived and taught.
The "religion about Jesus," which emerged in the centuries after his death, focuses on believing specific doctrines about Jesus: that he was divine, born of a virgin, died for our sins, and rose from the dead. It emphasizes correct beliefs and promises eternal rewards for adherence to these teachings.
But this wasn't Jesus's religion. The historical Jesus—the poor, Palestine Jewish prophet who lived 2,000 years ago—practiced and preached something radically different.
The Religion of Jesus: Love in Action
The religion of Jesus is about transforming yourself and the world through a relationship with God and ethical living. At its core was a profound commandment: "Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself."
The Greatest Commandment was central to Jesus’s message, appearing in the three earliest-written Gospels. When asked what was most important, Jesus didn’t instruct people to "believe that I am God incarnate" or "accept that I will die for your sins." Instead, he said: Love God and love your neighbors. Everything else hangs on these two commands.
This teaching wasn't about escaping to heaven or avoiding hell—concepts that barely feature in Jesus’s teachings. It was about transforming the world by transforming ourselves through love.
Jesus Preached Action Over Belief
Look at how Jesus lived. He shared meals with outcasts and "sinners," challenging religious authorities who prioritized doctrine over compassion. He healed the sick without questioning their beliefs. He uplifted the poor while criticizing the powerful. Women were welcomed as disciples, defying patriarchal norms. He resisted oppression with nonviolence and showed compassion to enemies and foreigners.
Jesus didn’t demand specific beliefs about himself. Instead, he invited people to follow his way of living—centered on love, justice, and radical inclusion.
The Shift to Pauline Christianity
The corruption of Jesus’s core message began with Paul, who did not know Jesus during his life. Paul emphasized correct belief over correct action, often clashing with Jesus’s original followers, including his brother James.
Pauline Christianity, one of many interpretations of Jesus, eventually became dominant. By the 4th century, as it became Rome’s official religion, this version of Christianity focused more on beliefs about Jesus than living as he lived.
This shift had profound consequences.
The love of enemies became crusades. Care for the poor turned into a prosperity gospel. Radical inclusion gave way to rigid exclusion. The vision of transforming this world was replaced with an obsession with escaping to “heaven.”
Reclaiming the Religion of Jesus
The world is crying out for Jesus’s message of transformative love. We see the failures of the "religion about Jesus" in white Christian nationalism, prosperity gospel mega-churches, and conservative “Christians” who worship Jesus while ignoring his teachings.
But it’s not too late.
We can rediscover the religion of Jesus, stripping away centuries of institutionalization to return to his revolutionary message. This isn’t about rejecting Christianity but reclaiming its essence: loving God, loving neighbors, and creating God’s Kingdom—a world of justice, peace, and radical love—here and now.
The choice is ours.
The world doesn’t need more people who believe the right things about Jesus. It needs people who live and love as Jesus did.
Let’s reclaim it together.
Comments
Post a Comment