There are some Christians who treat Christianity merely as a set of rules to be followed in order to avoid burning in hell. At the same time, there are other Christians who emphasize that the key aspect to Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and as long as you have a personal relationship with him, it doesn't matter how you act. While both understandings of Christianity have their merits, I can’t help but think that the faith of all Christians will be much stronger if we were to harmonize the two sides of this false dichotomy.
“Jesus and Me”
Let me start with the positive aspect to this approach: Christianity is supposed to be intentionally very relational. We have a God who is first and foremost a creator. Every human being, whether they are Christian or not, has been uniquely created by God who is love itself. God’s son died for every person that they might have eternal life (John 3:16), and according to the Psalms, God knows us better than anyone else does, even ourselves (Psalm 139:1-6).
Unfortunately, a relationship without rules is disastrous. Given the fact that the Christian's most important relationship is with Jesus Christ, if THAT relationship doesn’t have some set of moral guidelines, they can wander off and all sorts of erroneous thinking that is at best misguided or at worst heretical. The person could state that they have such a strong relationship with Jesus, and yet be walking around like a hypocrite, constantly contradicting the Bible through their actions. I’m certain that that will not bode well for that person’s eternal salvation.
Just Following Orders
On the other side of the spectrum, there are those who know what Christianity teaches, are striving to follow Jesus the best they can, but view their walk toward holiness as just a test they must pass in order to enter heaven. As with the “Jesus and me” approach, there are merits that can be found here too, but there is some bad along with the good. Morality and doctrine are essential components to the Christian life, but simply following orders blindly without love can lead to approaching God as some sort of divine dictator, which from what I’ve heard, is an easy road to atheism.
To Know and to Love
The two pitfalls of both approaches are exactly why the harmony between these two extremes is important for proper spiritual health. Is important because the answer to how we respond to God’s goodness in our day-to-day lives is the key to understanding the meaning of life itself. As an old catechism famously stated: why did God make you? To know him, love him, and serve him in this life, so that I can be happy with him forever in the next.” So absolutely keep reading your Bible. Keep going to church and following all the doctrines of our beautiful faith. Spend quiet time with Jesus in your heart each day. When it comes down to it, how can we truly know someone we don’t love? How can we truly love someone we don’t know?
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