What Did Jesus Tell Us to Do?

Obeying "everything Jesus commanded"

There are a lot of strange laws on the books out there but Texas might be the nadir: The Encyclopedia Brittanica is outlawed because it contains a recipe for brewing beer in your home (bonus points to any Texans who still have this on their shelves). If you were to procure an alcoholic beverage in Texas (presumably not homemade) it is illegal to take three sips of that beer while standing. And if you somehow got drunk (more than three sips, of course) it is illegal to milk someone else’s cow, or to shoot a buffalo from the second floor of a hotel.

There’s also a city law in Texas making it illegal to “idle or loiter anyplace within the corporate limits of the city for the purpose of flirting or mashing.” Speaking of mashing, in San Antonio it is illegal for “both sexes to flirt or respond to flirtation using the eyes and/or hands.” Over in Houston it is “illegal to sell Limburger cheese on Sunday.” Unlike a “blue law” this is kind of a “green cloud of gas” law I guess. In Mesquite, Texas it is “illegal for children to have unusual haircuts.” Also, it is illegal to urinate on The Alamo (An alert reader pointed out the Ozzy Osborrne incident which I didn’t know about and now add here.) After reading this litany, some of Texas my readers are discovering for the first time that they are accidental outlaws.

If you don’t live in Texas, you still may not be safe from strange laws. There are a good number of other laws around the world, perhaps where you live. In France, it is illegal to name your pig “Napoleon” and you may not, according to Australian laws, wear hot pink pants after midday on Sunday.

Three bear-related laws are unusual enough to note: in Missouri it is illegal to have an uncaged bear in your car while driving, while in Alaska you cannot wake up a sleeping bear in order to take your picture with it, and finally in Israel it is illegal to bring a bear to the beach.*

Speaking of Israel, this all gets me thinking about laws in the Bible. What does the Bible command us to do? What laws are still binding for us today?

There is much made in Church circles about membership rules or what constitutes a sin or what sins are worse than other sins. Of course the Old Testament took laws very seriously, with all kinds of rules and regulations, and so far I haven’t found any involving hot pink pants or bear transportation. However, there are a full 613 laws specifically in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible), known as the mitzvot in Hebrew. Unless you’re a particularly observant Jew counting out the little threads (tzitzit) on the corners of your prayer shawl (tallit) you likely don’t know many of them and are breaking those laws on the regular, as am I. But what rules and laws should Christians follow? Perhaps we should turn to Sheilaism as an option first.

Sheilaism

Sheila was a young nurse who became well known when a researcher asked about her faith and reported the results in a book. Sheila said that when she has a decision to make or a moral question, she just listens to the voice inside her that says what to do. She described it to the researcher, Robert Bellah, in detail, saying, “I can't remember the last time I went to church. My faith has carried me a long way. It's Sheilaism. Just my own little voice."

Is Sheilaism the answer for every Christian? Do we just say we believe in God, and then everyone just do what is right in your own eyes (Judges 21:25)? Surely this isn’t the best approach. Instead of turning to Sheilaism I’ve been on a 15-year research project into this simple question:

It seems like it should be easy to answer, right? Wouldn’t every church teach the answer to this question, and every group of Christians have this written down somewhere?

Well, no. While there is a simple collection of the answers to this question that I’ll offer you, the journey to get there for me has been complex. This is a “simplicity on the other side of complexity” kind of answer.

But it does stun me that almost no religious systems for following Jesus have made this the center of their work. Billions of people have followed Jesus through the centuries, and almost none of them wake up every day focused on the question: what did Jesus tell us to do?

So, what are the commands of Jesus?

Jesus didn’t give us the 613 laws to follow, but he did make a lot of commands. I’ll offer the story behind the selection in a separate coming article, but suffice it to say for now that I’ve been able to isolate 147 “all time commands” of Christ. These are 147 times Jesus told his followers to do something and they apply for all Christians at all times. Again, you likely have a lot of questions as to why these are the actual 147, but I’ll get into that in depth in my story of how we got here in that article coming up.

Why are the commands of Jesus important?

One of the most used quotes of Jesus is usually called the “Great Commission.” In the most quoted part it says: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28-19). But then it follows with the “back half” of the great commission, in verse 20, which says, “…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

So, the commands of Jesus Christ are important because Jesus specifically said they were important. When he summarized the mission of his followers, he said to go, make disciples, and baptize… all Christians at all times have always confirmed that these are important factors in what it means to be Christians. But then very little attention is given to the fourth part beyond the going, the making disciples, and the baptizing, and that’s the teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Note that Jesus is using very strong language here: “everything I have commanded you.” He doesn’t say, teach them to obey a summary of what I commanded, or teach them to obey a list of pithy values that represent what I commanded, or teach them the articles of religious your denomination wrote up that emphasizes certain parts of what I commanded and ignores other parts. No, he said teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. So this effort is about the everything Jesus said. It is comprehensive.

How do I see the 147?

I’m writing a devotional on each of the 147 commands of Jesus. At one time I wondered about publishing it as a book, but I’ve decided to release it here on DruGroup as a gift to paid subscribers. I’ll continue to offer my regular writings to free subscribers. You can engage with DruGroup however you like to now. You’ll be able to share my regular near-weekly writing with friends, family, and colleagues and there won’t be some annoying paywall.

However, there will be a new section on DruGroup called 147: What Jesus Told Us To Do. That section will offer a daily devotional sent to your inbox for a paid subscription of $36.50 a year (I think of it as ten cents a day). You might even enjoy giving a subscription to someone else for Christmas, When 147 is complete it will shift to a different daily devotional I’ve already completed which I’ll introduce later. Paid subscribers will also be able to go back and find all past devotionals and receive other insider communications. I hope this is a significant added value to your life and much more than others have offered for much less.

The Light

About seven years ago I picked up the hobby of caring for bonsai trees. I recently moved three of my bonsai trees to my office as it was getting too cold outside. They don’t get nearly as much light in my office, as it’s a north facing window. I’ve noticed that they have started to lean out toward the window, reaching out to try and get more sunshine on their leaves. I don’t notice this change from day to day. But over time I see the movement, and even have to rotate the trees so they grow more evenly. Perhaps you’ve seen this with other plants or flowers that turn towards the sun. Plants grow toward the light.

This is how I’m viewing my effort to offer devotional thoughts in writing. You might not notice a change on any given day. But as you meditate on the things God told all of us to do may you, as well, grow toward the light.

*If you’re wondering where I found all these strange laws, they come from some research I did for another author all the way back in 2007-2008. He didn’t use it in this form, so I found it in my files and used it here for your entertainment. And yes, I have all the footnotes for each of these laws but it was too long to include here.