If we ever think that Christianity is about "me and Jesus" or "having a personal relationship with Jesus" or something like that, we need to go back and read Matthew 5 again. Jesus emphasized that we were supposed to think about things like "me and my brother or sister" and "having a right relationship with them."
Another correction to our thought would be to quit saying things that imply that Old Testament laws are repealed or that the New Testament is so radically different from the Old that we can just forget the Old part. Jesus didn't forget it, and neither should we.
"You have heard it said," Jesus began, "you shall not murder." That law is still in effect. But, then he went on to include a lot of other behaviors that we might not have interpreted as falling under the heading of murder: being angry or calling somebody a fool. Just as the Ten Commandments were intended to help the escaping slaves to learn how to live together as God's people in the land promised to them, they still are applicable to us escaping the prison of our fears, hatreds, and resentments so we can move on to the kind of relationships that will make life better.
Besides increasing the definition of what we are not supposed to do, Jesus also provided an alternative: reconciliation.
I'm wondering about some of the discourse I listened to and read during the last elections and their aftermath. Do we somehow think that our political discourse is exempted from these sayings of Jesus?
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