Seven-Day Practical Faith Blog: How Will They Know We Follow Jesus?

My wife Sara recently changed her phone cover. Her Bible study group immediately took notice of her phone and the wise words of the prophet Micah. Certainly these instructions are a huge part of how we Christians should engage with each other and with everyone, even the least, in our society today.

But that's not my drift today. Instead, her phone cover got me thinking, "How DO others know I follow Jesus?"

A few months ago, we were traveling along an interstate and stopped for lunch in a small Texas town. I was wearing a shirt that read, "Love Thy Neighbor," one of Jesus's greatest commandments. The hostess looked at it and said, "I don't think many people in my town believe that." I'm leaving out a few details, but it's sad to think the very words of Jesus aren't agreed with there. Would they even recognize me as a Jesus follower?

How else would people know I'm a Jesus follower besides my apparel? I think of the popular church tune when I was growing up, "They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love." I aspire for that to be true in my life. I'm not sure love is how society identifies Christians today, but I hope we keep working on it.

Let's see what Jesus said himself about how the world would know him and recognize his followers. At the Last Supper, in John 17:20-23 (NIV), Jesus prays:

“My prayer is not for (these disciples) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

In other words, the hallmark of Jesus followers is complete unity. And when we display complete unity, we reveal Jesus as the one sent by God.

Now, it's hard to imagine every Christian will ever agree on every single theological point. That's why denominations exist. Yet how can we be unified on the core stuff?

Blogger David Platt wrote:

This is a unity that is grounded in the truth of Jesus. The words of Jesus, the person of Jesus, the spirit of Jesus, the commands of Jesus. . .Our unity is not in our politics, it's not in our ethnicity, it's not in our preferences. It's not in our socioeconomic status. (Jesus has) made it possible for us to be unified in a way that transcends all of these things.

Helpful and so true, but it's still difficult to achieve. In next week's post, I'll share two secrets for achieving this transcendent unity that shows we are indeed Jesus followers.

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