They'll Know We Are Christians

Growing up at Ascension Lutheran Church in Colorado Springs, I was part of the all-girls choir cleverly known as the “Ascensionettes.” It was a long time ago and while I don’t remember many of the songs we sang, I do remember singing,

“And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,

Yeah, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

I doubt many congregations still sing that song. The tune is pretty simplistic, and the verses are a bit outdated. What is not outdated is the message – They will know we are Christians by our love. 

It is love that determines how we act, who we support, and how we vote. Love is the deciding factor regarding how we weigh into the public discourse, how we speak up for or about someone, and how we respond to the actions and words of others. That may sound rather simplistic amid the contentious rhetoric and challenging decisions we face as a nation – “just do the loving thing!” – But if we do not ground our decisions, actions, attitudes, and behaviors in love, then why are we Christian?  Why are we followers of the incarnation of God’s love for the world, whose Spirit is at work within us so that we might participate in God’s transforming love for the world?  Because that is what love does – it transforms, it heals, it reconciles, it brings life. Love pulls us out of our own self-interests; to see and care for our neighbor, to honor the connection we share in our common humanity, and to worship the one who first loved us.

Whatever factors determine your decisions this election, I pray we all ask –

How will this candidate, or how will this law. . .

care for my neighbor?

promote a society where all are treated with dignity and respect?

live out our call to love our neighbors after ourselves?

I don’t know what will happen after the election - who will get elected and how people will react. But again, I pray that we will be known by our love, that we continue to do the loving thing, that we will work for the well-being of our neighbors, and that we will follow the way of Jesus and obey his commandments.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

(John 13:34-35).

Remember, the “one another” is all of our neighbors, the world that God so loved that the only Son was sent, not to condemn the world but that the world might have life through him. May our love for our neighbor continue to bring life and reconciliation to this world. 

Amen