Do The Great Commandment and The Great Commission Collide or Complement One Another? (hell, church)

[Cephas40]

The Great Commandment are Jesus most moving and important words, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

The Great Commission finds the resurrected Jesus instructing the disciples to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

In the 2007 book, I'm OK--You're Not: The Message We're Sending Nonbelievers and Why We Should Stop, author John Shore explains in detail the results after posting the following notice on Craigslist, “I’d like to hear how you feel about being on the receiving end of the efforts of Christian evangelicals to convert you. I want to be very clear that this is not a Christian-bashing book; it’s coming from a place that only means well for everyone. Thanks.” Within three days he had over 300 email replies.

These replies when compiled and boiled down showed one overwhelming theme, “Why do Christians hate us so much?” Following this theme, the number one impression nonbelievers have of Christians is, “Christians think they are superior.” Three specific replies stood out to me.

“ I had a friend who was, as they say, reborn. During my breaks from college she invited me to her church, and I did go a couple of times. In a matter of a month, at least ten people at her church told me that I was going to hell… “-Chicago.

“Christians seem to have lost their focus on Jesus’ core message: ‘Love the Lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”– Tacoma

“I have no problem whatsoever with God or Jesus – only Christians. It’s been my experience that most Christians are belligerent, disdainful and pushy.” —Atlanta

Somewhere along the way our message has either ceased being conveyed from within the framework of love or is being misconstrued. Sadly, I think the former may be the case. In another book I recently finished, The Early Jesus Movement and It’s Parties, the authors devoted a chapter to the sociology of Jesus’ message in the earliest days of Christianity. Among other things, it was a message of Hope to those downtrodden under Roman rule. The message resonated.

There have been three or four Great Awakenings depending on your source. One of the movers and shakers of The First Great Awakening was Jonathan Edwards. His sermon entitled, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God likened those ignoring religion and it’s teachings to a spider dangling by a thread above a hot fire. Edwards’ skillful imagery of the spider’s thread eventually breaking, the spider falling into the fire below was a powerful metaphor in its day. During the sermon Edwards was repeatedly interrupted by people shouting, “What shall I do to be saved today!”

When I was in college we studied this sermon and many others. The professor said, “I want all of you to remember this. NEVER, EVER make Hell the primary subject of any sermon.” I’ve thought of those words lately while reading some of the posts on this forum. Fear of going to Hell appears to no longer be sufficient motivation to become a Christian. As John Shore said in his book, most nonbelievers today know what being "saved" and being "lost" means and which one is better. They don't like Christians who act superior because they are "saved" while considering everyone who isn't "lost."

I told myself I wasn't going over one typed page so I’ll wrap this up. I don’t pretend to have all the answers. Sometimes I question whether I have any at all. But, it seems we need to rework our Great Commission to better incorporate our Great Commandment in a way that works for today’s world. For, I believe they do indeed complement one another when presented in love.