The Sum of All Christianity

What if I told you that I could summarize all of Christianity in 5 words?
- Everything.
- The Bible.
- The Catechism.
- The life of Christ.
- The history of the Church.
- All of it.
Would you want to know the words?

The Greatest Commandment

Jesus was once tested by a Pharisee.  The following dialogue took place:

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." ~ Matthew 22:34-40

This same conversation is also seen in Mark 12:28-31 and Luke10:25-28.  It is commonly called the Greatest Commandment.  And rightfully so!  Straight from the mouth of God Himself, this commandment sums up everything...It captures each and every one of the 613 laws of the Old Testament...It captures the 10 Commandments...It captures the golden rule...It captures all of the teachings of Jesus Christ.


Five Words

And this Greatest Commandment can be stated in five words: Love God, Love Thy Neighbor

That's it. Those five words summarize ALL of Christianity.

• Want to be the best version of yourself?  Love God and love your neighbor.
• Want to glorify Jesus?  Love God and love your neighbor.
• Want eternal life?  Love God and love your neighbor.

No complicated formula, no list of rules, just two requests in five words.
And yet the ramifications of these five words are infinite.


A New Perspective

Now ask yourself what your life would look like if you truly lived these five words.  Imagine if everyone truly grasped these five words.  Heck, imagine the transformation if just Christians (2.5 billion) understood them.  The world would become a paradise overnight!

I struggle to live these five words as I should.  We all struggle in our effort to live these five words.  And it's frustrating because the words are so simple and yet we find it almost impossible to live them out.

Some wrestle with the selflessness required to live these words.  Others have lost their way and forgotten the true meaning of the words.  And some have never even heard these words.

Looking at things from this perspective, the entirety of Catholicism can be summed up as an effort to spread these five words and explain them.  The Bible can be viewed as a library of books attempting to communicate the truth contained within these five words.  In fact, the reason God had to send Jesus down to Earth was so He could tell us these five words plainly and show us what it meant to live these five words.


The Lesson


God has shed blood, sweat, and tears trying to teach this to us.

As Christians, we need to remember to not get lost in the details, implications, and rules.  Keep these five words at the forefront of your thoughts and use it to shape your understanding of the faith.

And next time, when sharing your faith, start with these five words.  (It is a culture of sound bites after all.)  Our faith is simple in complexity, and yet, universal in application.  It is beautiful.  And more people should know it.

"Love God, Love Thy Neighbor"

Keep Pursuing