Today’s reading: 2 Kings 14; John 13
At the end of John 13 Jesus gives His disciples a new commandment that I think the church today, at least in the West, needs to take a serious look at and ask if we are actually following it.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The thing that always strikes me about these verses is that Jesus says that our love for one another is our strongest apologetic; that as people see the way we love one another, they will recognize that there is something different, and that that difference is because we are Jesus’ disciples.
When you hear or read Christian leaders today talking about strategies for church growth, you hear about things like the preaching, the worship band, the youth programs, community engagement, etc. What I don’t hear about often in those discussions is how to lead the people already in the church to deeper, sacrificial, self-giving love for one another, but, based on Jesus’ words here, maybe this needs to be where we start.
If you take a step back and look at your church, would you say that love for one another is a primary characteristic? When people visit the church, do you think they walk away astounded by the level of sacrificial care you have for one another? Can you count on the people in your church to love and serve one another the way Jesus does in washing His disciples’ feet here in John 13? Can the people in your church count on you in this way?
If the answer to these questions is no, or even is that your church has the capacity, and some people sometimes exhibit these things, that’s not good enough, and we are not showing the world that we are Jesus’ disciples.
We are commanded to give to the poor, but it is not how much we give that will tell people that we are Jesus’ disciples. We are commanded to go forth into all the world, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but it is not how many people we convert or baptize that will tell people that we are Jesus’ disciples. We are told to not forsake meeting together, but it is not consistent attendance at our meetings that will tell people that we are Jesus’ disciples. We are commanded to always be ready to make a defense of the faith that is in us, but it is not our knowledge of the Bible or our ability to argue apologetics that will tell people that we are Jesus’ disciples.
Our Lord gave us a new commandment, by which all the world will look on and know we belong to Him, that we love another as He has loved us. All the other good and important aspects of our religion need to spring from this backdrop if the world is to recognize that we are not merely slightly better or more generous people, but are disciples of our Lord Jesus, who has died to save us, as well as them, and to bring as all into His eternal kingdom as children of our Father in Heaven.
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