By This All Men Will Know That You Are My Disciples

I get asked questions at work sometimes. Okay, a lot of times. And often, they have to do with certain stances that I have Biblically. I don't mind the questions, and I run with it. Sometimes it leads to great conversations; other times it's simply an opportunity to mess with my coworkers. But all in all, when disagreement strikes, I think we've done a decent job of not being angry with each other. I am incredibly thankful to God for that, because on our own, it would be easy to fall into fighting over our positions. So, don't take what I am saying as a pat on my back; I am no one.

A while back, I wrote an article on how we should disagree with each other. It's something that, as I've gotten older, seems more and more important. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I have perfected it. I'm just saying that disagreements are all around us, and especially when we're in view of the world, Christians need to act in Christ-like love towards each other. Jesus did say that they would know us by our love for one another:

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." - John 13:35

I highly doubt that the advent of social media suddenly made us collectively less loving. But it certainly hasn't improved the situation.

YouTube, as of late, has added even more fuel to the fire. It's not hard to find angry debates and vitriol. But it's what gets the clicks.

And it begs the question: how do we deal with it?

It's hard to find the balance between loving our enemies and calling out falsehoods and false teachers. It's not exactly the most loving-sounding thing to call someone out for spreading false doctrine. And it's something that can't always be, nor should always be, in private.

Today's post, then, is really just more of me thinking out loud. Because I can't say I have the answer other than prayer, the word, and discernment.

Well, then again, I think the bottom-line answer is astonishingly simple: remembering that the world will know we are Jesus' followers by how we love one another.

Love doesn't fight only for fighting's sake. Love fights to defend truth, honor, the weak, and those susceptible to error. Love fights to win a friend, not crush an enemy. Love seeks the salvation of the lost, not to push people into hell, especially so we can say "I win!"

So yes, sometimes we have to call out error, even quite strongly at times. Yes, we should engage in debate, seeking to have open dialogue that we might win others to the truth. And yes, we should be open to questions, so that we and others may grow in the faith (avoiding foolish arguments, of course; see 2 Timothy 2:23.

But in all of it, let us remember to love.

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