The Mark of a Christian

People have found a lot of different ways to let other people know they are Christians. Some of them wear t-shirts with a scripture passage printed on it or a clever statement that might spark a conversation about faith. Some folks wear a cross on a chain around their neck. You may have noticed cars around town with various emblems representing the owners’ church affiliation. Then there are the paperweights, wall plaques, and coffee mugs people use to indicate their affection for their heavenly father.

Jesus wanted the world to notice his disciples. The last evening he spent with them he told them, “This is the way all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 12:35). Even though, Jesus told them that this was a new command for them; if they had been paying attention to his teaching and his example, it shouldn’t have caught them entirely by surprise.

Jesus had said on several occasions that loving God and loving others were central to living a life that would please God. Throughout his ministry Jesus had reached out to people who were forgotten, neglected and lonely. He had healed men and women who had resigned themselves to being defined by their disease. He had encouraged people to leave behind the habits that had made a mess of their relationships. And at the end of his life, Jesus had demonstrated the depth of his love by forgiving those who were responsible for his agonizing death.

So, how do people know that you are a Christian? Theologian Francis A. Schaeffer sums it up like this: “Love is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world. Only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians and that Jesus was sent by the Father.” It would seem, then, that spending some time considering what that love looks like would be worthwhile.

What does love look like? Is it heart-shaped box in various shades of pink filled with a variety of chocolate candies? Or a frilly card decorated with lace and scented with perfume? Or a bouquet of roses spilling out of an elegant crystal vase?

Perhaps Paul gives us the most thorough description of the love Jesus commands in his first letter to the Corinthians (13:1-15). “Love is patient,…” he begins. Making the most of your life means making the most of your commitment to love like this. Is that the kind of love that marks your life? I pray you love more like that each day.