They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love

Monday, December 30, 2024
"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)
Today's simple song is just as relevant today as when it was written almost 60 years ago.
For years, I've said that the biggest obstacle to evangelism -- the reason so many people don't even want to hear the gospel, much less accept it -- has been the behavior of other Christians. Multiple well-known television preachers were caught in scandals involving immorality or financial greed. Folks wondered why they needed to hear about Jesus when His followers were such hypocrites.
Now, instead of hypocrisy, the stereotype of Christians is hatred. One small congregation became well-known for showing up to strangers' funerals, uninvited and unwelcome, to publicly denounce the deceased's lifestyle. A supposed follower of Jesus told a preacher he would burn in hell for not preaching from the King James Bible. And as one headline put it, "Christians Spew the Most Hateful Internet Speech."
Jesus gave His followers the task of sharing the good news of the gospel. And it is really good news! We can be forgiven of all the bad things we've ever done. We can experience God's love and be adopted into His family. We can get God's help to live how we know we ought. And we can live with God forever in Heaven after we die.
However, people will reject this good news if Christians do not demonstrate God's love. Let's do a better job representing Jesus, who loved the world enough to die for it.