Yeah, I just went there.
When Christ was on Earth, many of his actions were done in secret. He specifically told his disciples not to tell anyone about them. Obviously, they were not very good at keeping secrets since basically everyone knew about what Jesus did. Now, I have several times heard that Jesus was just being really smart and told the disciples not to tell people specifically so they would tell people. Are you kidding me? That's the epitome of grasping at straws. Not to mention it's just silly.
So here's the question at hand. If Jesus did good works and then turned right around and told people that he didn't want anyone to know what he had just done, why did he do them? This seems contrary to what modern Christians have turned the mission of Christ into.
Modern Christians, generally speaking, have hinged their beliefs on a couple of key verses.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." -John 3:16 (NIV)Many people have had this verse burned into their skull from a very young age. It is truly a beautiful verse, but I believe most people focus on the wrong part. Most people tend to lean on the latter half of the verse, particularly "whoever believes in him." Focusing on God loving us is a wonderful thing, but instead, the verse has been twisted to turn those that believe in Christ into some kind of elite group of people that will avoid eternal suffering.
"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 (NIV)Often called The Great Commission, this is once again an admirable verse that is avidly ground into people's minds. However, it was not the main purpose of Christ's mission on Earth.
Some will tell you that the reason Christ did good works was to spread his fame so that more people would believe in him and be saved from eternal damnation. It is at this point that I sneeze very loudly and inform you that I am allergic to bullshit.
Jesus didn't do good works so people would know about him. He told his disciples not to tell anyone!
"But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what you right hand is doing." -Matthew 6:3 (NIV)Jesus was not a hypocrite. He didn't tell other people to do stuff and then do the exact opposite. Jesus did his works in secret just as he commanded us to do. Why? Because that's what it's all about!
The point of Christ's message is not to go out indoctrinating people and trying to "win as many as possible" for Christ. The point of Christ's message to the world was to love people. Not passively as we often think of love, but an active love that gives without asking anything in return. Including indoctrination!
We are not called to tell people about Christ as part of some holy crusade to save people from Hell. We are called to be Christ for those people so that Earth is not Hell for them!
Is The Great Commission important? Sure. But not as important as purely and simply loving people.
"Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" -Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)The greatest commandments man has ever been given have nothing to do with indoctrination, nothing to do with evangelism, and have no hint of condemnation.
The greatest commandments man has ever been given are to love.
It's not as complicated as we try to make it.
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