Tim Barnett responds to a challenge asking why Christians don’t love their trans neighbors and unpacks what Jesus was really doing when he intervened for the woman caught in adultery.
Transcript
Original video: Hello. I have a question about Jesus, and I am not trying to stir anything up. This is a sincere question.
Tim: I appreciate that, and I will try to give you a sincere answer.
Original video: I think probably the most important—I’m not Christian—but the most important words in the Bible are “love your neighbor as yourself”?
Tim: Well, that’s not quite right. Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is like it: to love your neighbor as yourself. Now, that order is really important since our love and fidelity for God is going to inform our love for neighbor. More on that in a second.
Original video: And Jesus himself stood between religious conservatives and the people those conservatives are trying to persecute.
Tim: Where? Where does Jesus stand between religious conservatives and who they are trying to persecute? Only one place comes to mind, the woman caught in adultery, which many don’t believe is canonical, though it may still be based on a real event. But even this isn’t a great example, since technically she wasn’t being persecuted; she was being prosecuted by the same law that Jesus came to fulfill. That’s how this whole thing is a test. The Pharisees want to see if Jesus is going to follow the law of Moses and stone this woman or break the law of Moses and let her go. If you know the story—spoiler alert—Jesus foils the Pharisees’ ploy.
Now, while this is a beautiful story, this is not Jesus’ primary purpose. Jesus’ primary purpose was to reconcile humanity to the Father. That’s why he constantly called people, religious or not, to repentance and belief in him.
Original video: And Jesus stood there in the middle and said, “No more. If you’re going to stone somebody, stone me.” Jesus defended the people being persecuted.
Tim: In this account, Jesus never says, “If you’re going to stone somebody, stone me.” Instead, he confronts both the sin of the Pharisees and the sin of the adulterous woman. To the religious leaders, he says, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” To the woman, he says, “Go, and from now on sin no more.” Notice, Jesus defends the woman, but he doesn’t affirm her sin. In fact, he seems to agree with the religious leaders that her adultery is sin. But with all her accusers gone, there was no one left to condemn her, and she was free to go. As a result, Jesus is able to extend grace to this woman and uphold the law of Moses. Absolutely brilliant.
Original video: So, where are the Christians—this is a sincere question—where are the Christians who are willing to stand between conservative Christians and trans people and say no more? These people are human beings. We don’t treat people this way. I thought—and again this is sincere—I thought part of the point of Christianity was to be more like Christ. What is missing?
Tim: Let me start by saying every human being is made in the image of God, making them intrinsically valuable and deserving of dignity. Christians should be the first to defend trans people from genuine mistreatment and abuse. Furthermore, I agree Christians should always strive to be more like Christ, and following Christ involves following his command to love your neighbor. And that, of course, includes our trans neighbor. But what I think is missing here is what it means to love your neighbor.
“Love your neighbor” doesn’t override God’s other moral commands. When Jesus gave the two great commands to love God and love people, he emphasizes that they summarize the Law and the Prophets. He wasn’t saying love cancels God’s commands, but that his commands teach us how to truly love. So, genuine love for neighbor cannot ignore or reject God’s moral commands. Instead, genuine love obeys God’s commands.
1 John 5:2 says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe his commandments.” Jesus demonstrates this with the woman caught in adultery. His love for her doesn’t affirm or celebrate her sin. He doesn’t say, “Go and live your truth.” If he had, that wouldn’t be genuine love. He says, “Go, and sin no more.”
Real love for neighbor doesn’t compromise truth. Instead, it helps our neighbor live in harmony with the truth.