More than anyone else?

[Matthias]

I read something earlier this morning and have been thinking about it ever since.

Pastor Scott Roberts posted on X / Twitter -

“Love Jesus more than you love anyone else.”

https://x.com/scottroberts/status/1911946276582605284?s=61

“Love Jesus.” Everyone who considers himself or herself a follower of Jesus should love him. If not, something isn’t right. I won’t go into exploring what that something might be in this OP. I take it here that “Love Jesus” is a given.

It isn’t “Love Jesus” that has my mind returning again and again to the pastor’s admonition. It’s what follows that does.

”More than you love anyone else.”

The first passage of scripture that came to my mind is Jesus’ conversation with the Jewish scribe.

”And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

(Mark 12:28-30, KJV)

As a Jewish monotheist, I instantly recognize this as a conversation between two fellow Jewish monotheists. That will have theological implications and consequences for me that it may not have for others: Love my heavenly Father with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind, and with all my strength.

I love Jesus, but he isn’t the heavenly Father. He is, as the trinitarian scholar Ben Witherington says, “someone other than the heavenly Father.”

Loving someone who isn’t the heavenly Father more than I love my heavenly Father isn’t something which I’m able to do.

If I were to ask a binitarian if they love Jesus more than they love the Father, would he or she reply that they do? I don’t think so. But if that was the reply, it would leave me with some questions.

If I were to ask a trinitarian if they love Jesus more than they love the Father, would he or she reply that they do? I don’t think so. But if that was the reply, it would leave me with some questions.

If I were to ask a unitarian if they love Jesus more than they love the Father, would he or she reply that they do? I don’t think so. But if that was the reply, it would leave me with questions.

If I were to ask Jesus himself if he loves anyone else more than he does the Father, would he reply that he does? I don’t think so. But if that was the reply, it would leave me with questions.

The pastor’s admonition begs the question: “Do you love Jesus more than anyone else?”

Regardless of how one might answer that question, it brings us to the question: “Should you love Jesus more than you love anyone else?”

I would answer the question with a qualified yes. And that brings to mind many other passages of scripture.

I don’t fully agree with the pastor (and perhaps he would qualify his admonition if pressed) but he is causing me to think, and I thank him for that.

 

[Matthias]

Did he cause no one else to think?

 

[Lambano]

If I were to ask a binitarian if they love Jesus more than they love the Father, would he or she reply that they do? I don’t think so. But if that was the reply, it would leave me with some questions.

If I were to ask a trinitarian if they love Jesus more than they love the Father, would he or she reply that they do? I don’t think so. But if that was the reply, it would leave me with some questions.

If I were to ask a unitarian if they love Jesus more than they love the Father, would he or she reply that they do? I don’t think so. But if that was the reply, it would leave me with questions.

Funny how that brings back long-buried memories. A memory of a middle-school-aged me telling my Sunday school teacher that while I found Jesus easy to like, God the Father was scary. And a high-school aged-me telling an evangelist something similar, and him telling me (as did the Sunday School teacher) that no, God the Father and Jesus were one and the same.

They're not the same person (trinitarian doctrine affirms this), and you can love different persons differently. Though I don't think Pastor Roberts or Jesus Himself would approve of loving the Son more than the Father.

But the Son is a little more relatable.

 

[Matthias]

Funny how that brings back long-buried memories. A memory of a junior-high-school age me telling my Sunday school teacher that while I found Jesus easy to like, God the Father was scary. And a high-school aged-me telling an evangelist something similar, and him telling me that no, God the Father and Jesus were the same.

They're not the same person (trinitarian doctrine affirms this), and you can love different persons differently. Though I don't think Pastor Roberts or Jesus Himself would approve of loving the Son more than the Father. But the Son is a little more relatable.

Even though I’m no longer a trinitarian it’s easy for me to still think like a trinitarian. I don’t know if the pastor intended to be provocative or not, but he came across that way to me. I’m sure he wanted his readers to think seriously about what he said. He accomplished that with me.

 

[Lambano]

Even though I’m no longer a trinitarian it’s easy for me to still think like a trinitarian. I don’t know if the pastor intended to be provocative or not, but he came across that way to me. I’m sure he wanted his readers to think seriously about what he said. He accomplished that with me.

I've heard the "you've got to love Jesus more than anyone or anything else" sermon before, usually illustrated by John 21:15: "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?'” Then peeling off into what "more than these" could be. So, I took Pastor Scott's implementation of that sermon differently than you did. I found your own take to be more provocative because it brought back some of the childhood questions and fears I had.

 

[Matthias]

I've heard the "you've got to love Jesus more than anyone or anything else" sermon before, usually illustrated by John 21:15: "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?'” Then peeling off into what "more than these?" could be. So, I took Pastor Scott's implementation of that sermon differently than you did. I found your own take to be more provocative because it brought back some of the childhood questions and fears I had.

“God-fearing” is something I think we easily associate with Father / father.

Now you have me thinking about ”Brother-fearing”.