THEY’LL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE

There was a popular Christian chorus years ago by this name. I believe it was popular because it reflected many believers’ desire to be witnesses to Christ thru their compassion for others.

I also believe that sometimes those who do not profess to follow Christ can knowingly or unknowingly use this desire to convince believers to act in a certain way. Have you ever heard someone say, “And you call yourself a Christian!” in response to a Christian’s statement, action, or beliefs?

That is sometimes a manipulative way to demand that Christians conform to what non-Christians understand love to be or to require. It can also can reveal an ignorance of what God expects of Christians & what love in a biblical sense means.

The popular chorus was probably inspired by what Jesus said in John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

It’s extremely important for Christians to know what the Bible means about love, & to make that clear to others. It’s also important for those who don’t know Christ, before they expect disciples of Christ to display Christian love, to honestly ask themselves if they know what they are asking of us.

The demonstration of love between disciples of Christ bears witness to the fact that God changes people in radical ways. By its nature it is not something that is understandable or even acceptable to those who have not experienced salvation in Christ. Why is it not acceptable?

First, something that is different from what they don’t know tends to intimidate people. Jesus’ radical love is intimidating, even frightening.

Second, because He recognized this tendency in people, Jesus warned His disciples: “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me” (John 15:18-21).

In our thin-skinned, offense-sensitive culture, a demonstration of Christ’s love can indeed be offensive. So offensive that it leads to a cross.