God created us with an intense desire for pleasure. He filled this world with good things like chocolate, sunsets, and sex. Why is that, and why did He make our desire for pleasure so strong? It is such a powerful craving it can overwhelm us. We can spend too much money buying nice things, we can get addicted to food and sex. It’s as if that drive can’t be filled. Why is that?

Follow me on this one. We are going to take the long road, but it will be worth it. The short and correct answer, but not the intuitive one, is Jesus is beautiful. Theologians use the word beauty in a very technical way to mean that God contains every desirable trait there is. Everything you love about this life like laughter, joy, community, etc. existed in the trinity prior to creation.

Christianity is the largest religion in the world, and probably one of the most hated for the evil done in God’s name. It was Christians who started the crusades, inquisition, Salem witch trials, supported slavery, imprisoned Galileo, covered up for child molesters, blew up the Oklahoma City Federal Building, murdered abortion doctors, supported Hitler, and hold up “God hates fags” signs outside of dead soldiers funerals. Many are full of judgment, hypocrisy, hatred, and gossip.

Just so we are clear, there is a big difference between the religion of Christianity and the person of Jesus. Jesus was a man who lived two thousand years ago. He didn’t want to start a new religion. He never asked anyone to become a Christian, or used that word. He asked them to follow Him by obeying His teaching, and most Christians don’t.

So if you accept or reject Jesus it must be on the basis of the man himself, and not on what the religion that has hijacked his name has done.

Why We Need Beauty

Jesus did not want people to become Christians.