For some people it's tempting to add Jesus as *another* thing they believe rather than *the* thing they believe. That was the situation during the time of the early church, and it's a situation we face now. We like to pick and choose what we like and leave the rest out. When Jesus says God is love, we like that. When Jesus says we have to take up our crosses daily to follow him, we don't get warm fuzzies anymore. The temptation is to choose the easy stuff and leave the hard stuff out. The problem is that the two go together. You can't follow Jesus in the easy stuff and then also believe that being good gets you to heaven (after all, how good is good enough?). Sometimes people want to add to their beliefs. Perhaps they do buy into what Jesus says, but they also want to add to it, such as the Mormons. The incredible thing about Jesus is that He is the only man who was/is fully God, and His teaching stands on its own. We don't need to anything to it, and we certainly can't subtract anything from it. It is what it is: take it or leave it.
About Seth
Seth is a pastor, author, and speaker who lives in Batesville, Indiana. He is married to Kari, and they have two daughters, Madelyn and Noelle.
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