Jesus Isn't All You Need
February 14, 2013
Not so long ago the teaching that "all you need is Jesus" (or some variation on that theme) arose as the teaching on everyone's lips. We heard it in sermons, there were songs about it, and it became a catchphrase. We believe, of course, in the greatness and centrality and glory of Christ (we could go on), and I think the “Jesus is all you need” idea arose in the midst of a time when the significance of Jesus was downplayed in some quarters (or at least that’s what was said).
But Jesus isn’t all we need. We need water, food, air. And, if the Bible is correct, we need one another, and, yes, we need Jesus. The teaching that “Jesus is all you need” sounds spiritual, but it is an improper substitute for the proper belief that Jesus alone saves, or it is a misconstrual of one’s understanding of the relationship of God to creation.
Some of you may be tempted to argue this is just semantics, that everyone understands what we really mean. But I served in Africa for a couple years with a mission group whose entire strategy seemed to be based on Jesus being all we need. They ceased their work in hospitals and schools and I was taught to be skeptical of every financial need. Of course money isn’t the answer, and we don’t want to take a gospel of material wealth into the world. But James asks us what good it is if someone lacks food or clothes and we wish them well without meeting their need. And Jesus marks those as righteous who have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, and visited those sick and in prison.
But attending to others’ needs is not my primary point. It’s easy enough to see that others need more than just Jesus. My point is that I need more than Jesus. You need more than Jesus.
God created us as needy people – in need of Him, yes, in need of each other, in need of God’s good provision in His creation, in need of what we can cultivate from the ground. Beyond what we need, He also created us a people who long – for good in this world, and for ultimate good that transcends this world. It is true that Jesus, by his death and resurrection, has secured that good. It does not therefore follow that we no longer need anything but Jesus.
God is glorified in our neediness. Relationships are forged in our neediness. The world is made a better place as we work to fulfill our needs and others’, precisely because God intended this for us.
To proclaim that Jesus is all we need seems to subvert these God-given impulses. Jesus alone saves – that is true. But we remain needy people.
But Jesus isn’t all we need. We need water, food, air. And, if the Bible is correct, we need one another, and, yes, we need Jesus. The teaching that “Jesus is all you need” sounds spiritual, but it is an improper substitute for the proper belief that Jesus alone saves, or it is a misconstrual of one’s understanding of the relationship of God to creation.
Some of you may be tempted to argue this is just semantics, that everyone understands what we really mean. But I served in Africa for a couple years with a mission group whose entire strategy seemed to be based on Jesus being all we need. They ceased their work in hospitals and schools and I was taught to be skeptical of every financial need. Of course money isn’t the answer, and we don’t want to take a gospel of material wealth into the world. But James asks us what good it is if someone lacks food or clothes and we wish them well without meeting their need. And Jesus marks those as righteous who have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, and visited those sick and in prison.
But attending to others’ needs is not my primary point. It’s easy enough to see that others need more than just Jesus. My point is that I need more than Jesus. You need more than Jesus.
God created us as needy people – in need of Him, yes, in need of each other, in need of God’s good provision in His creation, in need of what we can cultivate from the ground. Beyond what we need, He also created us a people who long – for good in this world, and for ultimate good that transcends this world. It is true that Jesus, by his death and resurrection, has secured that good. It does not therefore follow that we no longer need anything but Jesus.
God is glorified in our neediness. Relationships are forged in our neediness. The world is made a better place as we work to fulfill our needs and others’, precisely because God intended this for us.
To proclaim that Jesus is all we need seems to subvert these God-given impulses. Jesus alone saves – that is true. But we remain needy people.
