Jesus Cared for People, Not Playlists: Faith Beyond Rule-Keeping

I recently stopped listening to a podcast as soon as the host started talking about how living for Jesus meant things like being careful about the kind of music you listen to. That moment reminded me of one of the reasons my last church, an evangelical church, fell flat in my eyes—because it seemed more concerned with policing behavior than with living out the principles Jesus actually taught.

Jesus didn’t walk around monitoring people’s music choices, clothing, or external habits. Instead, He challenged hearts, lifted up the broken, and called people into deeper love, justice, and mercy. He spent time with the poor, the outcasts, and those the religious elite had written off. His focus was never on surface-level rule-keeping—it was on transformation from the inside out.

Yet, so many churches seem fixated on external behaviors—the music you listen to, the words you say, the books you read—rather than on what Jesus actually prioritized: compassion, justice, and love. When faith is reduced to rule-following, it loses the very heart of the Gospel.

When I look at what Jesus preached, I see Him constantly pointing back to concern for the poor, the hurting, and the outcast. He called His followers to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for the least of these. But when churches focus more on controlling appearances than on living sacrificially for others, something is deeply missing.

I’ve come to a place in my faith where I’m far more interested in loving well and living intentionally than in following a checklist of “approved” behaviors. Faith should bring freedom, not fear. Jesus didn’t invite people into a rulebook—He invited them into a relationship.

I don’t want a faith that nitpicks my playlists—I want a faith that asks, How am I loving my neighbor? How am I showing kindness? How am I reflecting Jesus in the way I live? That, to me, is what truly matters.