Jesus told his disciples that all people would know they are in fact his disciples if they love one another (John 13:34-35). Sounds easy enough right? Most devoted Christians would openly declare their “love” for their brothers and sisters in Christ. But isn’t “love” overused and broadly defined in our culture? For example, I love my wife but I also love popcorn. I love my parents but I love my dog as well. “Love” is thrown around in English and has all but lost the sacrificial sense Jesus conveyed when giving his disciples the new command to love. Jesus explained the kind of love he was talking about: “Love one another as I have loved you” (v. 34). The love Jesus commands of us is sacrificial, selfless, and underserved.
The church is community of love. More specifically, it is a community of God’s love. The church exists because of his love. Creation itself exists because of his love. Have you ever thought about why God created humanity in the first place? Was it to fill a void in himself? Was he lonely? Did he need servants? No. The Bible illustrates that God himself is community: “Let us make humanity in our image” (Gen 1:26-27). God is, and always has been, the perfect community of holy, sacrificial love. He created all of creation out of his pure love. Put simply, he loved so he created. God didn’t need to create humanity to fill a void in his heart, stroke his ego by telling him what a great God he is, or to serve him (as in many pagan creation stories in the ancient Near East). He created because he loved.
The church is to be a community that reflects the gracious nature of God’s love. We are to live our lives as testimonies to the love of God which creates and sustains us. Jesus said that if we reflect the selfless love of God, the world will take note (John 13:35). When we love one another in sacrificial and practical ways we actively reflect the love of God. So, “love” is no longer a broadly defined, emotionally hyped word that applies to anything and everything from spouses to favorite foods. Love is sacrificial. Granted, it is emotional as well; no one can truly demonstrate love without having a measure of genuine emotion or feeling in his/her heart. To do so otherwise is hypocrisy. But love is not sheer emotion; love is action-oriented. As the DC Talk song says, “Love is a verb.” Love is demonstrable; it works, it serves, it honors, and it is selfless – like God.
So should our love be for one another. It is not enough to declare “I love my siblings in Christ.” What do I mean by “love”? The world will not notice the kind of love that is simply spoken yet not demonstrated. It sees enough of that in itself. The world will know that we are Christ’s disciples if we love one another in tangible, practical, sacrificial ways. Jesus taught that the most effective evangelistic effort is when Christians truly love one another. It sounds counter intuitive to define evangelism as: reaching out by reaching in but that’s exactly what Jesus calls us to do! As a community of love, the church’s primary evangelistic tool is to love one another first by reflecting the kind of love Christ had for his disciples. Then and only then will the world take notice and want to become part of a loving church family.
