Love one another

I’ve heard it said that, for a "belief system" that teaches "Love one another," Christianity is the most narrow-minded religion there is. Many nonChristians see people who wear the Christian label as being exclusionary. Unless you enjoy their entertainment, agree with their politics, shop where they shop, read their books, have sex only with your spouse, you can’t in good conscious call yourself a Christian. After all, you don’t want to do anything that could be misconstrued as consorting with the enemy.

Enemy?

If someone listens to Madonna, is a registered Democrat, buys their kids’ school clothes at Wal-Mart, read “Harry Potter”, or “lived together in sin”, they’re “of the enemy” and should be shunned from our congregations. If you’re not “for” Jesus, you’re “against” him. There can’t be any grey area, right?

Thank God most Christians I know do not believe that way. If all Christians did, then yes, Christianity would be the narrow-minded religion that some repute it to be, and the love of Jesus would be only for those who obeyed his commandments.

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” That is the command that Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper (John 13:34).

Jesus was not choosy in whom he loved. Rich and poor. Healthy and sick. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Being human means we are not perfect people. Not everything we do is the right thing, and love does not mean we accept what is wrong. Not everyone was lovable, yet he loved them anyway. He comforted the challenged, and challenged the comfortable, hoping to leave those he encountered more blessed than they were before.

Perhaps we should do the same. This is how everyone will recognize that we are Jesus’ disciples—when they see the love we have for each other.