One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and 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.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” -Mark 12:28-34 According to rabbinic tradition, the OT contained 613 commandments. 248 of them were positive commandments, meaning “do this, do this, do this.” And 365 were negative commandments, meaning “don’t do this, don’t do this, don’t do this.” That’s a lot of things to remember to do and that’s a lot of things to remember not to do. And so from early on, it was recognized that some of these commands were heavy and some were light. Some were really big and some were really small. In other words, from very early on in Israelite faith, it was recognized that not all commandments are created equal. Some commandments are more important than others. And few things are more destructive and less biblical than the incredibly misguided belief that all the Bible’s commandments are equal. When I was in middle school, I vividly remember going to youth camp for the first time. I didn’t much want to go but some of my friends talked me into it, and so there I was, walking into the worship service on the first night of camp…and I’m wearing a hat, turned backwards. Now little did I know, but apparently there are some Bibles in which wearing a hat, much less a backwards hat, in worship, is the unforgiveable sin. It’s the mark of the beast, no less. So no sooner have I walked in to worship then I feel somebody behind me pop the bill of my hat, sending the hat flying up and off my head. I turn around, and who do I see but one of our adult chaperones. And upon seeing me look at him with anger and confusion, he looks right back at me with anger and confusion and says, “Surely you know better than to wear a backwards hat into worship.” I didn’t know much about Christianity or the Bible back then. I certainly wasn’t familiar with the (rather culturally conditioned) passage in 1 Corinthians in which Paul says that it’s disgraceful to pray with something on your head. But even back then, something in me said, “Why in the world would this guy puff out his chest and take a stand over something like this? Over a kid wearing his hat into worship?” That’s a pretty benign example. I didn’t curse Jesus and reject Christianity because some grumpy fundamentalist shamed me for wearing my hat backwards. But there are many darker examples in which people’s belief that the Bible is inspired by God leads them to blindly attempt to apply all the teachings of the Bible equally. So not wearing a hat in worship is, supposedly, as important as…feeding the orphan. And saying a bad word is, supposedly, as damnable an offense as…neglecting your family. And to all of this, to the desire to use the Bible to paint the whole world in black and white, the Bible itself, Jesus himself, says…no. It’s not all equal and it’s not all black and white. Rather Jesus himself teaches us that at the heart of things, there is something that takes priority over all things. At the heart of things, there is something that all other things must bow down before, must serve, must give way to. At the heart of things, there is something beyond black and white. And that something that the Bible and the whole universe revolves around is this: love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength…and love your neighbor as yourself. Have you ever wondered why we talk about love so much? Have you ever wondered why we think about love so much? Have you ever wondered why we sing about love so much? Have you ever wondered why, from the beginning of time it seems, we’ve been haunted by the sense that love is the deepest rhyme and reason of things; that love is the center of gravity that holds all things together; that love is the answer to all the mysteries of the universe? Have you ever wondered why we every last one of us carries around the primal intuition that if we could just learn to love and be loved, everything would be ok? If so, then hear Jesus’ answer: we were made to love. Love isn’t just one thing among many other things—love is the thing. Love is the reason why anything and everything exists. Beyond black and white, there is love. Not too long ago, I was talking with this guy who thought I emphasized God’s love too much in my book. Because in his mind, God is love, sure, but God is also equally just and wrathful and so on. So it’s wrong to treat love like it’s more important than other important things. And so finally I said to him, “Dude, you and...