Then there are those who are offended precisely because they DO know what Jesus taught — all that «
love your
neighbor as yourself» and «whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me» stuff — and proceed to
ignore it because,
as one commenter said recently, «we're not willing to do all those things anyway...»
The Letter of James, easily
ignored by evangelicals following Luther's denunciation of the book
as «straw,» speaks of the reciprocity of covenant life:» «You shall
love your
neighbor as yourself»... Draw near to God and he will draw near to you» (2:8; 4:8).