Love, not law, changes world

Have you ever noticed that nobody ever called Jesus a hater?

As the fallout from Indiana’s version of the ill-considered Religious Freedom Restoration Act roils the national debate, the focus when it comes to religion these days centers on free-exercise rights versus the ability to legally discriminate. (Two very similar bills pending in the Nevada Legislature appeared dead on Friday after Gov. Brian Sandoval came out in opposition and the sponsors backed away.)

It wasn’t always about the controversy. According to the Gospels, in Jesus’ time, huge crowds followed him wherever he went, sometimes numbering in the thousands. People sometimes did crazy things to get close to him, to listen to what he had to say, and even to give up their lives to follow him.

Yes, those Gospels were written decades after Jesus death, and many of the stories therein were told and re-told over time before they were committed to paper. And yes, there was a certain public relations thrust to the writings, as the first-century church struggled to find its footing.

But the fact is, people loved Jesus. He helped them. He spent time with the dispossessed and downtrodden of his day. He accepted everybody, even the untouchables in society. He taught others not to judge, since all of us are sinners. At the same time, he let us all know that God expected us to live better lives, to trade self-interest for selflessness. He wasn’t rich, and according to the Gospels, he didn’t think much of rich people who hoarded their wealth rather than use it to help the less fortunate.

About the only people who didn’t like Jesus were the religious leaders of his day, whom Jesus often accused of hypocrisy. He was angriest when he caused havoc in the temple in Jerusalem, overturning the tables of those who made loans to the poorest of the poor so that they could buy animals to sacrifice in recompense for their sins.

Interestingly, Jesus never insisted on his rights, even when he was falsely accused and ultimately put to death for sedition by the Roman government that occupied ancient Israel. Instead, one of his final acts was to ask God for the forgiveness of those who tormented and murdered him unjustly. It was a powerful example of his love, one that endures more than 2,000 years later.

Things are different in America today. Most people identify as Christian of some stripe. The government is officially enjoined from interfering with the free exercise of religion. You won’t get in trouble if you go to church, pray or carry a Bible, the way you might if you, say, lived in China, or ancient Rome before Constantine.

So what happened? When did a religion founded on the love of God for all his children become about whether you’ll bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding? When did “go and make disciples of all nations” turn into parsing which forms of birth control should be covered under the Affordable Care Act? How did “Love one another … By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” turn into a legal fight over rational basis scrutiny versus strict scrutiny?

It shouldn’t be about those things.

Today is Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar, the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the promise of eternal life in heaven for those who follow him. It’s also an excellent time to reconsider the meaning and purpose of faith. The Jesus of the Gospels was about building the kingdom of God through love, compassion and forgiveness, and eschewing judgment, hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

If his followers did that more, they wouldn’t just get better press, which doesn’t matter in the long run anyway. They’d change the world for the better, which makes all the difference in the world.

Happy Easter.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist who blogs at SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.