Just over 10 years ago I had the opportunity to go on a trip with my church in Chicago to visit with their sister church in Guanabacoa, Cuba. It was a rare opportunity considering going to Cuba was illegal for most. It was an amazing trip. My favorite part was having the chance to play music with their church’s worship team. They had some amazing musicians - much better than me - and they had a great theme song for our trip. The words went like this… “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, and we pray that our unity will one day be restored. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Like me, do you automatically start singing this song when you read the words? For me, it’s an old faithful from growing up in the church.
I was struck by those words this week at Forest Lake Camp during our Sick & Twisted week as I taught teenagers about faith through movies. They come from Jesus’ final commandment to His disciples at the Last Supper. He says to them, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13)
What I noticed this week wasn’t what Jesus said, but what He didn’t say. I’ve heard that verse and song hundreds of times, but it had never struck me the same way before. But right now, I think the church needs to hear it. Jesus didn’t say - and neither does the song - that people will know we are His disciples by our morality. He doesn’t say they’ll know us by our political views, our righteousness, or our stance on gay marriage, abortion, or gun control. He says they’ll know that we’re His by our love for one another.
It seems right now that the church in America looks more like the Pharisees of Jesus’ time than the disciples. Pharisees were constantly worried about morality and doing what the Law said was right. And that was understandable in their situation. But Jesus came to teach something greater than legalism. He came to teach us how to love. Yet we find ourselves bickering over all the same things the Pharisees bickered about. And when someone within the Christian community comes out with a different perspective, different interpretation, or different belief; we pounce in outrage.
Of course it’s important that we work out our understanding of the world as we walk with Jesus. It’s important that we seek righteousness that comes from Him. And It’s important that we try to represent Him by following His ways of living. But our first job is to love as He loves. That is a love that supersedes agreement or unity of belief. It’s a love that is active and hospitable to those we disagree with. It’s a radical love that Jesus showed to the “sinners” of His day, to the lepers that He touched, and to each of us when He went to the cross. Can we be a church of people who love? It’s not easy, it’s not natural. But it’s the way that this world needs to experience the risen Christ.
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