First things first

I am a Christian.

The most important thing, the highest priority for me, as a Christian are the words spoken by Jesus in an exchange with a Pharisee who had asked Jesus which commandment was the greatest. Jesus said to him, “‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37 – 40).

In Luke (10:30-37), a similar, but slightly different exchange takes place. After agreeing on the greatest commandments, the Pharisee asks, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus then tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which a Samaritan, a gentile, comes to the aid of a Jew wounded by robbers. The Samaritan offers remarkable generosity and charity, even when two other Jews would not offer help. The Samaritan is a stranger to the Jew he helps. Furthermore, at least from the Jewish perspective of the day, Samaritans are to be shunned because they are unacceptably low class. The Samaritan surely knows this, but he offers help anyway.

At the end of the parable, Jesus asks the Pharisee "which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."

Together, these two Biblical passages state the most important instructions for Christians. We know what we are supposed to do, and we know who is to be included in the doing. As Jesus said, on these commandments hang all the law.

Coming soon: Jesus did not die for our sins, and Evolution happens.