They Will Know Us By Our...

You may grow a little tired of hearing this, but it cannot be said enough. Of all of the things we consider important, the greatest litmus test of our faith is wrapped up in a four letter word: L-O-V-E. Of all of the things that Jesus told His followers they should do, LOVE was not only the greatest of them but the root of them.

Jesus said the world would know that we are His disciples by our love for one another.
Period.
Not by our demonstrations, our t-shirts, the size of our church buildings, or our fish symbols on the backs of our cars. It might be time for us to pay attention to how the world perceives us.

I came across a graphic this morning that got my attention. This led me to run a test of my own. Many of you know that when you type in on a Google search that they often try to finish your statement (or question) based upon popular searches. In other words, what the majority of people type in comes up as an option. These are the searches that I came across:
Why are Muslims so...angry
Why are Christians so...mean
Why are Jews so...smart
Why are Buddhists so...happy
I would simply type in the beginning phrase & Google would offer the most popular word for that search. While it may not be a research poll that can offer some hard data, these questions should cause us to ask a few of our own.

If LOVE is to be the basis for all that we do, and the proof of what we believe, then why doesn't the Googler search for "Why are Christians so loving?" What are they experiencing that is so different from the life of our Savior? While we often tout our separation from the world as a credit to our abiding faith, the reality is that the world ran to Jesus when He was here. They sat at His feet. They hiked to the top of a mountain to hear Him. They crowded into homes, climbed up trees, and crossed over to the other side of lakes. They longed to be in His presence. While I don't expect everyone in the world to love us, I do believe that we should be getting their attention in a good way.

Please note that this post has nothing to do with your standards. I want you to live by your convictions.
This has nothing to do with affirming or rejecting certain types of lifestyles. We are in the world - not of it.
All I am trying to convey is the fact that while we talk a lot about loving one another, our neighbor, & our enemy; our lives (as a collective whole) are not indicative of the love that changed the world. How the world perceives us is only as important as our ability to reach out to them. And I have been to places where people were shocked at the love we showed to them. Our actions left them amazed. Our willingness to put ourselves out there made a huge difference. They didn't expect the love & support of the Christian community. You want to talk about doors being opened to share the love of God? When they experienced His love through us, it made all the difference.

I realize that we often get thrown into the "bad lot" of people's perceptions. I'm from Southwest VA. With that being said, I'm not a racist, I have all of my teeth, and I live in a pretty technologically advanced area. You would be amazed at how many people are shocked by this. Why? It's all about their perception. The same could be said of any of those groups listed above. Not all Muslims are angry. Not all Christians are mean. And the list goes on. However, the perception must be dealt with.

While I cannot offer solutions to every group, I can offer some advice to my Brothers & Sisters in Christ.
#1 - Let's stop with the hateful rhetoric
There is a way to preach truth IN love.
#2 - Let's rid ourselves of our own disunity
This is a call to action for all the schisms within the Body of Christ. I don't care if we have denominations as long as we can honestly share common ground...i.e. Jesus.
#3 - Love has to come to the forefront of our thinking
Love should be the root of all that we do. All of our ministries, mission projects, service programs, etc. should be propelled by this one thought: How can we demonstrate love to these people.
#4 - Immerse yourself in the love of God for you
This is bigger than you might think. As long as you struggle to accept the unconditional love of God for your own life, the harder it will be to demonstrate the unconditional love of God for others.
#5 - Love starts at home
I think we are missing it here more than we want to believe. I should be able to teach, preach, and minister to people in a way that doesn't cause my wife & kids to flinch. In other words, they should be experiencing love through me on a daily basis. Too many pastors are saving the world while losing their kids. This has to stop. Today.

Sure...there's a lot more we could say about this topic. But maybe if we could work on these things, the rest would work itself out as well. I'm a firm believer that the most loving places in the world should be our homes & our churches. Period. There's absolutely no reason why people should feel the need to run elsewhere to experience love. Love is a part of our original design. It's in our DNA. Maybe we should stop trying to love like Christ & start loving AS Christ. Hmmm...now there's a thought.

Don't underestimate who you are.
Don't underestimate the difference you can make.