Love is More Important Than Doctrine

A few weeks ago, I read something which resonated with me.  It was the statement (unfortunately I can’t remember the source), “love is more important than doctrine.”

Reflecting on this statement, I believe that it captured the essence of the Christian message, at least the message of Jesus Christ.  When he was asked what is the greatest commandment, his reply was all about love:

you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” ³¹The second is this, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ (Mark 12:30-31)

So, if that is the Great Commandment, why do Christians pay more attention to doctrine than the commandment of our Lord and saviour?  On reflection I think that it is because doctrine is easier to get our heads around and actually follow than it is for us to actually love God and consequently to love our neighbours.  Make no mistake about it, this idea (commandment) of Jesus is truly radical.  Richard Rohr noted this recently in one of his daily meditations:

Of the many radical things said and done by Jesus, his unflinching emphasis on love was the most radical of all. Love was the greatest commandment . . . his prime directive—love for God, for self, for neighbor, for stranger, for alien, for outsider, for outcast, and even for enemy, as he himself modeled. The new commandment of love [John 13:34] meant that neither beliefs nor words, neither taboos, systems, structures nor the labels that enshrined them mattered most. Love decentered everything else; love relativized everything else; love took priority over everything else—everything. (Richard Rohr January 3, 2019)

I noted above that it is easier to follow doctrine than to love.  I do believe that is true; it may be easier but has certainly led to a great deal of trouble in the Christian church(es) in the past two thousand years.  That is probably true of most, if not all, religions―but not being a religious scholar, I can’t state that as a fact.  In modern times the Anglican church certainly has spent a lot of time and energy on points of doctrine.  The most recent one is the doctrine of marriage and should be marriage canon be amended to include/permit marriage of same-sex couples.  This issue is important to many people, including me.  So, the reality is that even though love is more important; indeed, the most important thing, we are not going to avoid arguments, and worse, over doctrine.

The best approach, if not the way out of this quandary was put forward by the Primate (head) of the Anglican Church of Canada, Fred Hiltz in a sermon he preached on the proposed changes to the marriage canon of our church, stated that the way forward in what seems like an impossible divide was to disagree in love.  This, I believe, captures the essence of the idea that love is stronger than doctrine.  The most important thing is to continue in loving relationships even when you disagree on things that matter deeply to you.  If we can understand that staying in a living relationship is more important than agreeing on doctrine, we will be following the Great Commandment of Jesus. 

This, of course, is not easy, but who ever said following Jesus Christ would be easy?  I know, I know, some of you are probably going to quote Jesus back at me, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  I have struggled with that one over the years and still am trying to resolve that with my struggle to follow him.  However, I do know in my heart that love is more important than doctrine.

Blessings on you journey.