Easter is a few weeks away and churches all over the world are turning their attention to the final weeks leading up to Jesus’ arrest, trial, execution, and resurrection. John’s account of the events is unique because he gives more details regarding Jesus’ words during the last supper, including a prayer Jesus prayed before he was arrested. There is a line in this prayer that is important, but often overlooked. Praying for his followers he says: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20-21) To paraphrase, he prays that all of the people who follow him throughout history would live in unity. Further, he is saying that the unity will be a form of testimony about Him. Everyone who is not a follower of Jesus will know at least something about Him because His followers will represent him in their loving attitudes and actions toward one another. If this is true, then there is a difficult question that each Christian has to ask about how they deal with other Christians: What does the world see when they watch me? Do I judge my brothers, gossip about them, and fight with them? Gandhi once said: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” In saying this, he was not rejecting the gospel based on the life and works of Jesus, but rather he was judging it based on the behaviors of Jesus’ followers. This is basically what Jesus said would happen in the prayer quoted above: folks will look at us and judge the validity of our beliefs. This begins with how we treat each other. Last week, this column began a series looking at how Christians ought to behave toward each other, at least according to Jesus. The answer was stated clearly by Jesus: Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. (John 13:35) This week, the point is a little sharper: Not only will they know you are His followers by your love, but they will judge you and Him by your love (or lack thereof). In the first 200 years of the life of Christianity, historians, both pagan and Christian, wrote about how folks were astonished by the love and unity of the church. One fellow mocked Christians with the words: Their Master makes them believe they are brothers. This is a big part of what prompted the rapid growth of the early church. At the core of the responsibilities of followers of Jesus is to behave toward each other in a manner that imitates the love of Jesus. If other Christians have wronged us severely, we need to love them anyway. If they frustrate us or give us the cold shoulder or gossip about us, we still have to love them. Jesus exemplified this by washing the feet of Judas, who was about to betray Him, and engaging with Peter, who was about to deny that he knew Jesus at all. This involves past and present conflict. Cold wars between believers are no different than heat of the moment fights. It is important to understand that this doesn’t mean tolerating bad behavior. There is a delicate balance that has to be maintained on these sorts of matters. Next week’s column will explore this in more depth.
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