06/17/2026
At some point, “my beliefs” can become a prettier way of saying:
“I have a spiritual reason not to love them.”
And that should concern us.
Because Jesus never used truth as a reason to move away from people.
He used it to move closer.
Closer to the wounded.
Closer to the outsider.
Closer to the grieving.
Closer to the very people the religious had already rejected.
But too often, we turn theology into a ball and chain. We drag it behind us while insisting we’re “defending Jesus.”
Because some of us have built a faith that is more fluent in who we oppose than who Jesus embraced.
You may know some of them too... Christians that can argue for two hours about transgender athletes, immigration, pronouns, politics, and “what’s happening to this country”…
but can't name two things Jesus actually taught in the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus was not vague about what matters most.
Love God. Love your neighbor.
No asterisks.
Everything else is supposed to serve that.
Not outrank it. Not replace it.
Not become the loophole we use to avoid it.
And this is exactly what Jesus did.
Six times in Matthew 5,
Jesus said some version of:
“You have heard that it was said…”
Then He challenged the religious understanding of the day and pulled it deeper.
Jesus kept redirecting theology back to the heart of God.
Reconciliation. Mercy.
Integrity. Peacemaking.
Loving our enemies.
And a righteousness deeper than religious performance.
So maybe the question isn’t,
“Is my theology correct?”
Maybe the better question is:
“Is my theology making me look more like Jesus?”
Because if your beliefs make you colder, crueler, prouder, harder, and less capable of loving the people Jesus kept moving toward…
that’s not spiritual maturity.
That’s theological captivity.
The kind that makes us obsessed with being right about God while completely downplaying Jesus's very clear, but uncomfortable commands.
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
— Jesus
And Jesus didn’t come to help us justify our theological chains.
He came to break them.
He came to set captives free.
Including us.
So, if your theology needs you to love people less in order to stay “biblical,” you're likely not defending the Bible.
You're likely avoiding Jesus.
