Some Who Say they "Love Jesus" May Not Actually "be Christian." Here's How.
I keep asking, "What do you mean when you say you love Jesus?" To which some have asked, "Why the heck does that matter?" Here's why.
A while back I wrote an article reflecting on what people mean when they say something to the effect of, “I love Jesus.” In it I theorized that there are different ways we relate to people/objects all while using the word “love” each time.
For instance we say we love tacos, we say we love Taylor Swift, and we say we love our children. Not only do each of these examples utilize a slightly different aspect of the word love, but they also describe different kinds of relating.
You don’t love tacos, per se; you enjoy the way the pleasure sensors in your brain light up when your taste buds interact with that-which-we-call taco.
You don’t love Taylor Swift, per se, because you don’t really know her. But you do enjoy how her music makes you feel, so your immense gratitude toward her results in saying something to the effect of, “I love” Taylor Swift.
Whereas the love you have for a friend or family member is most certainly built upon the principle of knowing and being known. This is obviously a much deeper expression of “love” than that for inanimate objects (like tacos) or parasocial relationships (such as those to artists, celebrities, etc).
But is all of this just an esoteric exercise in philosophical musings? I mean, isn’t just annoying when someone is all, “But what do you meeeean by _______?”
I promise you, this does indeed have practical implications.
There is a point.
Why this Question Matters
Which leads me to today’s refection, in which I respond to those of you wondering,
“Colby, what’s your point? Why does it matter what we MEAN when we say we love Jesus?”
Good questions. I’ll start with the second (why does it matter) and then end with the first (what’s my point).
Here’s why I think it matters to know what we mean when we say we love Jesus.
Because Jesus wanted disciples, but churches tend to create worshipers.
And these are not the same thing.
A disciple is someone who patterns their life after the person they follow. They seek to live like, think like, and act like that person.
Conversely, a worshiper is someone who, well, worships. And worshiping is about awe, it’s about ascribing worth to someone/something, it’s about humbly prostrating yourself in the presence of something/someone more grand and more awesome.
Do you know what is required for worship to take place? Distance. Separation. After all, holiness literally means “set apart.” So when we say that God is holy—a common refrain in something like worship—we are making a claim about apartness. God is so Other that we are intrinsically separate, and we name this in and through our worship over and over.
To say it again, worship requires separation.
Whereas discipleship requires closeness.
When you’re a disciple of someone you have to get all up in their business. In fact, the rabbinical Jews would say that a true disciple follows so closely behind their rabbi that the front of their robe gets dirty from the dust kicked up by the footsteps of the rabbi.
Here’s the kicker:
You are a disciple because you want to be like the one you follow.
But you are a worshiper because you fully appreciate that you are not like the one you worship.
So why does it matter that we think through what we mean when we claim to “love Jesus?”
Because you can love someone within the context of being their disciple or follower.
And you can love someone within the context of being an admirer or worshipper.
But these two efforts run counter to each other.
You cannot do both at the same time.
So ask yourself, which of these two descriptions of “how I love Jesus” best describe you?
The Point of This Line of Questioning
Hopefully the point of this line of questioning now is a little more clear.
My suspicion is that many Christians, when they say/sing/write/proclaim to “love Jesus,” they are doing so as worshippers of him.
They love Jesus because he’s their Savior (that certainly implies distance/separation).
They love Jesus because he’s their Lord (by definition subjects are not close to their lords).
This is not to minimize their feelings or sincerity at all. This is a very legitimate form and expression of love.
But if that is how you love Jesus,
if what you mean by saying, “I love Jesus,”
is that you adore him,
you worship him,
you think he is holy and amazing,
then by nature you are keeping yourself at a distance from him (whether you know it or not).
By nature of loving him in this way you are creating a world in which you do not believe you can or even should try and be-like-Jesus.
And if THAT is the case, then, well here’s my point:
Oooh... This is good! Good stuff!
Christian quite literally means "tiny Christ" so to be a true Christian, we have to truly live like Jesus
I love Jesus because I love the ideals he had and what he lived out, speaking up for the marginalized, feeding the hungry, healing the sick... Loving to the point of death, and I hope to live like him too. I hold people as sacred, not beliefs...and I believe he did so too.
I didn’t do a deep dive after reading this. I have a few thoughts off the top of my head. Did Jesus ask us to love him? He asked Peter if he did love Him. When Peter answered in the affirmative, He said “then feed my sheep.” I don’t recall He said, “good. Love Me Love me a lot.” Or anything similar.
Did he tell us to love Him or to love others? He did ask “who do you say that I am?”
I am interested in learning the answers to my own questions. Maybe the answer to your question is saying we love Jesus isn’t important one way or the other. Do we do what He asked us to do? Love others. Serve others. Make disciples. Then there would be no need for the question to be asked.