love without exception and without expectations

The concept of loving your neighbor as yourself, as taught by Christ, has nothing to do with the Golden Rule, which implies a transactional expectation of being treated well as a reward for treating others well. Christ told his followers to love without exception and without expectations. In fact, Christ said we should love our enemies and those who hate us. Christianity has been modernized, but Christianity has always changed with the times. At one time, Christians worshipped in private houses, and Eucharist was a part of a common meal. And the Holy Bible has been translated, re-translated and linguistically updated since St. Jerome first translated it from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. Lastly, in my 47 years of life experience, which includes divinity school, I have yet to meet a theologian or clergy person who claimed they knew the mind of God. God is a mystery even to the most erudite and spiritual. If you ever find a pastor who unreservedly states he or she knows the mind of God, I encourage you to let everyone know so we can all safely avoid that person.