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I don’t qualify as a Christian anymore, and haven’t for a long time, but I grew up in the church and I took the Bible very, very seriously.  I read the Bible daily. Read the whole thing cover to cover a few times. I studied it, meditated on it, memorized passages. When I was a believer, I was an earnest believer. I cared about what the Bible said and wanted to understand what it meant for me, as a person, and how I should live my day-to-day life.

Jesus said, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching."

As I witness the rise of Christianese in our political culture — specifically, as I witness the use of Christian terminology to defend illegal, inhumane, and immoral behaviors — I feel that we all need a mini-refresher course on the actual teachings of Jesus. 

Things Jesus taught:

✅ Love your neighbor as yourself.  (Who is your neighbor? Those in need of your help. See The Parable of the Good Samaritan.)
✅ Love your enemies.
✅ Forgive others.
✅ Do not judge others.
✅ Do not worry.
✅ Do unto others as you would want done to you.
✅ Be a servant of all.
✅ Be a peacemaker.
✅ Do not resist an evildoer; instead, turn the other cheek, i.e. voluntarily give more than has been taken from you.
✅ Feed the hungry, help the stranger, care for the sick and imprisoned.
✅ Sell your possessions so you can give more to the poor.
✅ Do not store up treasures on earth. 
✅ Humble yourself and be like little children.
✅ Have mercy on those who cannot pay their debts.
✅ Blessed are the meek and the merciful. 
✅ Rejoice when you are insulted, reviled, or falsely accused. 
✅ All people are equal, and God is no “respector of persons. “ (i.e. God does not acknowledge or care about classes, genders, categorizations but about the heart. Jesus specifically named the equality of free & slave, male & female, rich & poor which was very much not cultural norm at the time. Pretty radical.)

Things Jesus did NOT teach:

🚫 Defend your right to own guns.
🚫 Defend your personal property.
🚫 Defend your freedom.
🚫 Defend your rights at all!
🚫 That women are inferior to men; in fact, he taught and demonstrated the opposite.
🚫 That children are inferior to or less valuable than adults; in fact, he taught the opposite and issued severe, eternal threats towards people who mistreat children or put them in harm’s way.
🚫 That it’s okay to treat people inhumanely if they are illegal immigrants.
🚫 That it’s okay to hate and/or threaten people who are different than you.
🚫 To create a religious nation so you can require others to live the way you think they should. In fact, Jesus said: "My kingdom is not of this world."
🚫 To remove aid, resources, and help from the sick, poor, disabled, mentally ill, or imprisoned if it will benefit your personal financial position.
🚫 To concern yourself with other people's sexual choices. In fact, Jesus refused to pass judgment on a woman caught in adultery.
🚫 Anything at all about abortion.

I don't believe in hell, but if I did, I'd be pondering this passage in particular:

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
— Matthew 25:40-45