A recent quote from VP JD Vance has sparked controversy – it is attached to this thought – among Christians of all flavors. Vance states that it is a Christian notion that you love family, then neighbor, community, fellow citizens, and, finally, the rest of the world. He then makes it political by saying that “leftists” inverted this. If by leftist he meant Jesus, then he is correct. Jesus turned the whole concept of love upside down, and we have been misquoting Him ever since. For Jesus, there is no hierarchy of love. There is no limit, in fact, to how much or who you should love. “Love one another as I have loved you”, He said over and over in the Gospel of John. He repeated it numerous times because, I think, Jesus understood just how much we want to put our own restrictions on His teachings. We like Jesus, but only as far as He fits our agendas. And we misquote Him all the time.
Now – if your personal belief system is in line with VP Vance’s, that is your choice. It is, I think, far better than most self-centered life missions I have heard. In my own life, I organized those who matter most to me in similar ways, so I am in no way saying that he is wrong to believe this. What he is wrong about, however, is that he is lying about Jesus. Jesus never said, or even implied, what Vance is blaming Him for. Jesus, in fact, is quoted as saying that loving those who love you is no big deal – anyone can do that! (Mt. 5: 46-47). It is loving those who are hard to love that is the challenge; it feels unnatural yet is necessary for a just world.
When I first saw this quote, I wondered where I had heard it before. A friend of mine used to attend a big-box evangelical church in our area, and he left that church when this perspective was preached. They were told, from the pulpit, that Christians were only called to love and care for those who believed what they did, which is the exact opposite of the teachings of Jesus. The ultimate judgement, Jesus taught in Matthew 25, would be based on how you treat others. If you treat the poor and hungry and imprisoned and sick (etc.) as if they were Jesus, you go to heaven with the sheep. If you don’t, you end up in hell with the goats. There is no middle ground. There are no loopholes. Stop misquoting Jesus. His words are meant to push us beyond ourselves, not to help us to feel self-satisfied.
Prayer – Holy God, inspire us with Your Spirit as seek to be Your servants. Amen.