John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (TNIV)
BEARING WITNESS TO GOD’S LOVE THROUGH COMMUNITY
Many years ago, I led a group of Christian college students on a summer mission trip to China. We spent the summer living in a dorm at a Chinese university sharing life with Chinese college students. Our purpose was to form a Christian community on this Chinese campus and invite the Chinese students to be a part of it. Our conviction was that experiencing Christian community plays an essential role in people coming to faith. We bear witness to God’s love by inviting people to experience what relationships are like in Christian community. In the midst of the challenges of a cross-cultural experience, we invited the Chinese students to observe how we strove to put the needs of others before our own, and forgive each other after being in conflict. As the Chinese students saw and experienced the relationships of care and service that we had with one another and with them, they understood and experienced God’s love.
Almost all of the Chinese students were atheists. Most left their time with us as seekers open to the Christian faith as having answers to their spiritual questions. Several gladly accepted Bible from us. One Chinese student had to give a report about her summer to the English department at the university. This Chinese student said that she would focus in her report on how a group of Christians can change the people around them. A community characterized by love, forgiveness, and service is a powerful witness of God’s love.
PRAYER
God of love, enable us to increasingly receive and experience your abundant love for us as individuals and a church. Help us to love one another with the love you have given us in Jesus Christ. May your love characterize our relationships and motivate all that we do. We long for those who have never received your love to experience the transforming power of your love in our community. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.