If you’ve been around the Christian faith for a while, you’ve noticed how people pick what they like from the Bible. Like a giant magnet at a wrecking yard we each reach down into the material of the Bible and pick up only what we want — get the iron, leave the wood, paper, and plastics. We’re not convincing if we say, “I don’t do it but everyone else does.” We all do. It’s just that some are so obvious about it. I’ve dealt with two main types of Bible-selectors.

One brand of Christian Bible-selector is the person who snatches every word about love. In our text they hear Jesus say, “If you love me….” and they get misty-eyed, as they do about most of what’s in the Bible, because they’re convinced it’s all about love. This person can see love in the Bible where love isn’t around for 100 mil…