I like tea
It’s a simple beverage
Tea leaves soaked in hot water until the leaves flavor the water
You can fancy it up, add sweeteners or milk, chill and add some fruit maybe
But the basic ingredients are simple
Hot water
Tea leaves
Brings this Bible passage to mind:
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Jesus gives Christians two basic ingredients here:
Love God
Love your neighbors
Fancy it up however you want; you need these two ingredients
When you have them, you have the basic ingredients necessary to be a Christian
Some focus on the first ingredient, after all Jesus calls it the greatest commandment
It’s like the hot water for tea
Tea is something you drink after all
Without a liquid you don’t even have the fundamental basis for a beverage
The most important thing before you even try to have tea is to find some water
But you cannot ignore the second step
If you don’t actually put the tea leaves in the water, then all you’ll ever have is a cup of hot water
Many who claim to follow Christ do this with the greatest commandment
They proclaim their love for God
They have the cup of hot water
But they refuse to love their neighbor
They refuse to add the tea leaves
Dress the water up in the fanciest trappings and the excruciatingly intricate language you want
It’s still just a cup of hot water
If you want to make a commitment to Christ, he made himself clear
Get your water
And put the leaves in it
(Next post: Finding Fire & a Cup)
Nested Hierarchy 