Identification

So my drivers licence expires next month and I just had another member of my household get their licence after not having it for a long time. I guess that is why It struck a cord with me when I heard someone on the radio talking about how to identify a Christian. He didn’t quote any verses I had not heard before but I remember thinking I liked the way he put some things and I would probably use it some time. A couple of days later I heard another preacher on the radio talking about a second set of verses and lighting struck. I had heard both of those verses several times and even preached on them but I had never put them together before and wow, what a difference.

It made me stop and think and reevaluate some things. I couldn’t believe that I had never made that connection before and it bothered me that I had never put it all together. Of course I don’t want to be bothered alone so I thought I would share it with you so that you could be uncomfortable too.

The first passage was from John chapter 13 and it takes place just before Jesus is arrested. Jesus is preparing the disciples for the time when he will be apart from them and at the end of the conversation Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times.

Jesus warns them that he is leaving them and then he gives them a very important piece of information, he tells them how it will be possible to tell his disciples from everyone else, he gives them the identifying trait of a follower of Jesus.

How do you know if someone is a follower of Jesus, what is it that you look for to determine if someone is a christian? What should others see in us that lets them know we are Christians?

By this all men shall know that you are my disciples, that you are members in good standing in a southern baptist church....no that doesn’t seem quite right.

By this all men shall know that you are my disciples that you read your bible a lot and have a lot of biblical knowledge...........nope, not that either.

By this all men shall know that you are my disciples, that you volunteer to serve in the church and that you tithe a full ten percent and more ...........that’s not it.

All of those things sound good and are good things for christian to do but according to Jesus Christ they are not the test of whether or not someone is his disciple.

John 13:33–35 NASB95

“Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Now that commandment is not new to any of you, you all know that we should love each other, you all know that we should do those other things I mentioned too. In fact, we know it so well that we can quote it and talk about it without really thinking about it. What does it really mean to love one another?

If the mark of a disciple of Jesus is to love other disciples of Jesus then how do we do that, what exactly does that look like? What does it mean to love someone?

Fortunately the bible does not leave this to our imagination but it gives us a pretty exhaustive definition of love. In the first letter to the Corinthians Paul tells us all about love.

1 Corinthians 13:1–7 NASB95

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

So now lets put those two things together. If love is patient then by this all men shall know that you are my disciples, that you are patent with one another. Have you ever found yourself losing your patients around other Christians? The people around us should be able to see that we are Christians because of how patient we are with each other. That hurts, when you say it like that and I remember when I was not patient it puts a glaring spotlight on why some people think Christians are hypocrites. Because it is by our patience with one another that people should be able to tell that we are Christians and I have not always been patient.

If it is the mark of a christian that we are patent with one another, kind to one another, not jealous of one another, don’t brag about ourselves or are never arrogant, if these things are way everyone is supposed to know that we are followers of Jesus could someone who visits our church tell that it is full of Christians.

Did the visitors we had during VBS notice that we were patient and kind, not jealous, never bragging and not arrogant. I hope we were all of those things to the kids who came to VBS but that is not really what this is talking about is it. Jesus did not say by this all men shall know that you are my disciples, that you have love for the visitors, or for the people you are ministering to but to one another. That means the other Christians, the other workers, the fellow church members. Sometimes it was stressful and we were trying to get a lot done in a little time and people sometimes got irritated with one another, not always kind or patient, some may have compared how much one person did with how little another person did and any of these things would demonstrate a lack of love, according to Jesus it would give others cause to doubt that we are his disciples, because we did not show love, and that is just the first paragraph.

By this all men shall know that you are my disciples, that you do not act unbecomingly toward one another, you don’t seek your own, you are not provoked, and you do not take into account wrongs suffered.

Have you ever seen one christian act badly toward another christian? Have you ever treated someone in the church badly yourself. If the mark of a christian is not seeking our own, especially around other Christians then why do we have so many church arguments and church splits over power and authority and who gets their way? Do you know any other Christians, anyone in this church even who pushes your buttons. Someone who can get you irritated at the drop of a hat and seems to bring a hat with them just for that purpose. By this all men shall know that you are my disciples that you are not provoked by one another. Notice it doesn’t say that you do not provoke one another but that you are not provoked by one another, it is a refusal to allow it to get to you and offend you. Which goes along with the next item on the list all men will know that you are my disciples when you don’t take into account wrongs suffered.

If you are active in a church I can assure you that someone will wrong you, someone will offend you, churches are full of people and people are sinful. If you get involved and stick around you will be offended, you will be done wrong, its just a matter of time. In fact if you just show up and sit there enough times I will probably offend you myself. I don’t mean to offend you, I mean to help you, but I am broken and sinful and I don’t always get it right. Even Jesus who did always get it right offended many. It is not a question of whether or not you will be wronged or offended but just a question of when. But there is hope, there is a way out or at least a way through. When you are offended you have a chance to show everyone that you are a follower of Jesus, by letting it go, by keeping no record of wrongs, by realizing and acknowledging you were wronged and then letting go of it, keeping no record of it, getting over it, that is the mark of Christian.

By this all men shall know that you are my disciples that you do not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoice in the truth. Have you ever heard of guilty pleasures, something you know you should not do, something that is not right, but you enjoy it so much that you do it anyway? If its not right and you are doing it and enjoying it your are rejoicing in unrighteousness. How many of us have said I know I shouldn’t but I am going to do it anyway.

By this all men shall know that you are my disciples that you bear all things, hope all things, believe all things, endure all things with one another. How can you know if someone is a Christian, or how can someone know if you are a Christian? If trouble comes to the church or to someone who is part of the church do we share the burden, do we bear all things with one another, do we continue to believe in each other and lift each other up when we need it, do we always have hope and share it with those around us. When we see that one of our brothers or sisters needs encouragement do we share our hope with them, do we hope in all things together, when one of us struggles with belief do we believe in them and share our belief with them, not our opinions or our thoughts but our faith and our trust, our very belief that God has not and will never abandon us, do we believe together. When it is hard to hope and hard to believe and hard to trust do we endure it together? does every member of our church know that they never have to endure trouble alone, that trouble may come and hardships may exist, sickness and even death may be part of our lives but not one of us ever has to go through it alone because we are committed to enduring all things together.

It is by these things, by these signs that Jesus says that everyone will know that we are his disciples. it is by the love that we show for one another that we show everyone that we follow the one who loves us enough to die for us. He loved us first, and he is our example.

Jesus could have said that people will know you are a christian because you go to church, because you serve others, because you read the bible, pray, or a thousand other things but I think he covered all that. If you love God and love each other then all those other things will take care of themselves. If you love the members of your church no one will have to tell you to go, I have a little niece I love to spoil, to play with, to hug on, no one has to tell me visit her, I want to. When she is hungry or needs her diaper changed you don’t have to force me to feed her or take care of her, I love her. Sometimes she is bad, sometimes she irritates me, but I get over it, I don’t hold it against her because I lover her. The same can be said for her brother and sisters, the same can be said for my wife and my children. We know what love looks like, we know what love feels like, we recognize it in ourselves and in others. It’s not hard to spot and the evidence is as plain as the nose on your face. So are you a disciple of Jesus, can you prove it. Do you have love one for another? Is it obvious for all to see. Surely there are people in your life that when you are around them everyone can see that you love them and they love you, its just obvious. That is the way we should be with our fellow Christians at church, we should love one another, plainly and obviously. Do we? Do you?