Hello,
Have you ever wondered how you can tell if a person is a Christian or not? I remember in my high school years sitting among some of my high school friends who, like I, professed to be Christian and hearing a discussion (gossip?) of others who were and were not “real Christians”. I would like to say that I was eaves dropping the discussion and not adding to it, but truthfully I don’t remember. I, do remember, however that it wasn’t a rare occasion that sought to sort out who was and wasn’t a Christian, a real one, that is.
My recollection of the criteria of “real Christians” usually revolved around the actions and lifestyle of a person…. “He doesn’t ever go to church.”…. “You should have seen the way she acted at the party Friday night.”….. “They go to church, but they don’t really go. You know what I mean?”…. “He hasn’t accepted Jesus as his personal Lord and savior.”
Although my youth has gone away, in the more “enlightened” years of my adulthood the question has not. To action and lifestyle has been added the nuances of right belief….right belief about baptism and communion, right belief about law and gospel, right belief about trinity and salvation. The discussion and the conclusions may be more sophisticated than my high school days, but when you boil it down, it is the same thing. If you want to know if a person is a Christian take a look at their actions, their lifestyles, and what they believe.
In church this past Sunday we read from the 13th Chapter of John and heard Jesus’ answer to the question, “How can you tell if someone is a Christian.” Here’s his answer: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love on another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” It’s not one’s actions of smoking or partying. It’s not the kind of clothes you wear or the amount in your offering. It is not one’s understanding and acceptance of doctrines and teachings. It is the love that we have for one another….not the love that we have for everyone (which is indeed something that we have)….but the love that is found between those who bear Christ’s name.
The world in which we live may teach us and help us have a deep love for one another…you don’t have to be a Christian to love, that is for sure! But as God’s Spirit lives in God’s people, God is at work activating a divine love, a love deeper than the universe, far deeper than the cavern of any human heart. It is a love that churns with forgiveness, that withstands the greatest gales, and opens every day with new life. I have done many a wedding where 1 Corinthians 13, “the love chapter” as it is often called, is read. Whenever a couple picks this reading I remind them that this is a picture not of human love, but divine love. This is the kind of love by which people will know that a person is a Christian, a disciple of Jesus.
The truth is, and we who call ourselves Christian know, that this divine love is not always evident among us…but it is what God is working at among us. I find it discouraging when a person stops coming to church because they disagree with a decision that has been made, or because of something that someone has done, or because of lifestyle concerns. Unfortunately it happens all too often, often because that is the way that the world tends to love. But every so often – no, more often than not – I see people who come to church and purposely sit next to a person whom the rest of the world has shunned. I see people come to church and kneel around an altar with someone whose lifestyle views are diametrically opposed. I see the confident ask for forgiveness, and the meek readily giving it. As 1 Corinthians 13 also says, “we now see in a mirror dimly”, the evidence if divine love amongst those who bear Jesus name is not always clear, but until it is those who are marked with the Cross of Christ and live under its shadow will be shaped and molded by the divine potter.
Let me invite you to be so shaped and molded. Come to church on Sunday and be held in love….not the world’s love….but the love of God, Jesus.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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