Actual Christianity

One of the most destructive teachings within Christianity is the idea that all you need to do is believe in Jesus and you’re good to go. You can essentially discard the teachings of Jesus, which make very clear that how you live, what you do, and how you treat others actually matter and replace them with faith in him alone. Yet at no point in the recorded teachings of Jesus does he simply say, “Just have faith in me.”

This idea largely comes from the writings attributed to Paul, who seems to have felt he had the authority to trump and supersede the teachings of Jesus. And because many Christians will never reject anything in the Biblical canon, even when it is problematic or contradicts what Jesus taught, these writings get accepted wholesale without being seriously questioned or given a second thought. This is something that needs to end.

This fear, of course, comes from the mindset that challenging or rejecting anything within the biblical canon might send you into a lake of fire. What often goes unrealized is that by refusing to question the Bible, Christians can end up voluntarily choosing biblical writings that conflict with the very teachings of Jesus they claim to follow.

This doesn’t only apply to later writings in the New Testament. It also applies to portions of the Old Testament that are violent and destructive and cannot reasonably be upheld while simultaneously claiming to follow the nonviolent and compassionate teachings of Jesus. So the cherry-picking of both the Old and New Testaments begins. Because there is an objective lack of consistency within the biblical writings themselves, personalized versions of Christianity become almost inevitable.

Jesus gave a pretty clear list of behaviors to adopt and deeds to perform. Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. Forgive others. Feed the hungry. Help the poor. Welcome the stranger. Reject retaliation. Show mercy. Do not judge hypocritically. Treat others as you would want to be treated.

Then come the writings of Paul, a man who had previously persecuted the early followers of Jesus, introducing a theological framework that in many ways became more influential within Christianity than the actual teachings of Jesus. What Paul did was essentially throw a wrench into the entire system of beliefs by shifting the emphasis from living as Jesus taught to believing the correct things about Jesus. If the crucifixion put an end to Jesus’ ministry, Paul continued the termination of his teachings by teaching his own followers to discard them completely.

If anyone believes that faith in Jesus alone is sufficient, then feel free to prove me wrong by providing verses in which Jesus himself explicitly says that merely having faith in him is sufficient regardless of how you live.

The Pauline writings that suggest otherwise are deeply problematic because they have misled generations of Christians while seemingly failing to remain consistent with Jesus’ own emphasis on behavior. If Jesus had demanded that his followers simply believe in him or worship him as the central requirement for salvation, that would have been an enormous red flag, an obvious display of narcissism that simply does not fit the character of Jesus presented in the Gospels. So either Paul got Jesus’ teachings profoundly wrong or his theology deliberately distorted what Jesus actually taught. Either way, Paul’s writings should be discarded in favor of the teachings of Jesus.

Of course, the outcome of these writings was incredibly convenient. The standard for being “saved” could now be lowered from radically changing the way you live to simply having faith in Jesus. No need to love your enemies. No need to welcome strangers. No need to forgive. No need to abandon hatred, greed, cruelty, or judgment. Just put a cross around your neck, say you believe in Jesus and that’s it. Your spiritual journey is complete. Your ‘personal relationship with Jesus’ is simply defined as saying you believe in him.

That distortion has carried on to this day.

It has gotten to the point where self-declared Christians can openly promote hateful and racist ideas that directly conflict with the teachings of Jesus while remaining convinced that they’re fine because they’ve satisfied the absolute bare minimum requirement: they “believe in Jesus.”

Hence we end up with Klansmen marching with crosses and other self-proclaimed Christians enthusiastically demanding that their neighbors be ejected from their country for racist or xenophobic reasons, despite Jesus explicitly taught his followers to welcome the stranger. Jesus himself identified himself with the stranger who is welcomed. He outright says “if you have welcomed a stranger you have welcomed him. “I was a stranger, and ye took me in.”

The entire point of that teaching is that the person we perceive as an outsider is not separate from us. They are our brother or sister, not some alien “other” with whom we have nothing in common. We are one with them. Not separate. I cannot think of anything more in line with Jesus taught than welcoming those who are suffering and seeking asylum but mainstream Christianity actively opposes this very clear instruction by Jesus.

As for the verses that helped derail this emphasis on the teachings of Jesus, here are several of the passages routinely cited to elevate faith over works:

Romans 3:28:
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”

Galatians 2:16:
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ … for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Philippians 3:9:
“…but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

Ephesians 2:8:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

These are the verses routinely cited by those who just love the amazing loophole: profess the correct belief, and suddenly the actual work of living according to the teachings of Jesus becomes secondary or outright non-existent.

Thanks, Paul! /s

To put it simply, Jesus said faith without works is dead. A passive claim of faith is meaningless if you follow none of his directions and this is not focused enough in modern Christianity.

• Feed and materially help people in need — food, clothing, shelter, practical assistance. Jesus identifies himself with “the least of these” in Matthew 25:35–40.
• Welcome the stranger — “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35). Hospitality toward outsiders is explicitly treated as service to Jesus.
• Forgive people who wrong you — not merely believing forgiveness is good, but actually practicing it (Matthew 6:14–15; 18:21–22).
• Love your enemies — treat opponents with goodwill rather than retaliation or hatred (Matthew 5:43–48).
• Practice non-retaliation — resist the impulse to repay injury with injury (Matthew 5:38–42).
• Give generously without seeking recognition — help people privately rather than turning charity into a performance (Matthew 6:1–4).
• Show mercy instead of condemnation — “Blessed are the merciful” (Matthew 5:7), alongside Jesus’ repeated warnings about hypocritical judgment.
• Cross social boundaries to help someone — the Good Samaritan is perhaps Jesus’ clearest picture of compassionate action: the Samaritan sees, approaches, treats, transports, and pays for the injured stranger (Luke 10:25–37).
• Care for people society neglects — Jesus repeatedly associates with the poor, sick, marginalized, and socially rejected.
• Reconcile with people — Jesus tells his followers to prioritize making peace with someone they have wronged (Matthew 5:23–24).
• Serve rather than seek status — “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Mark 10:42–45).
• Detach from excessive wealth and possessions — Jesus repeatedly warns against accumulating wealth while ignoring others (Matthew 6:19–21; Luke 12:15–21).
• Treat others as you want to be treated — the Golden Rule turns belief into everyday conduct (Matthew 7:

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