Jesus Defined the Sign of His Visible Church

What Did Jesus Do?

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35

Twice a year congregations typically enjoy the high water mark of attendance. If you’ve been around a congregation for any amount of time you know what I’m talking about, and you know the two occasions I am speaking of. So I’m not going to bother speaking about Christmas Eve and Easter/Resurrection Sunday.

It is not uncommon for some (too many actually) of the folks who are in church, well, religiously, to note with disapproval the presence of so many who seemingly have no need to show up the rest of the year. But rather than condemning those whose faith we might regard as somehow inferior to our own, we would better consider how their absence the rest of the year indicts us. In truth, I give those people who faithfully show up twice a year a lot of credit, there are a lot of others who can’t stand being in the presence of the posers who park it in the pews week in and week out while giving no sign of actually being the Church.

You see, Jesus defined the sign of his visible Church—it’s love. And what do you think a lot of those two times a year people don’t feel when they come on their biannual pilgrimage? They don’t feel the love. Again, this says a lot more about us who are there all the time than it does about those who darken the doorstep of a sanctuary a couple of times a year. Think about it, it cannot be Jesus who is keeping them away. The Lord said that he will draw all people to himself when he is lifted up (John 12:32). So, if it isn’t Jesus who is repelling them, it must be—us.

Seriously, if we were to ask people who come to worship two times a year why they don’t come more often, very few, if any, will name Jesus as the reason. But there will be no few comments about us. It might make us feel like the Marines to self-righteously think ourselves part of the Few and the Proud who occupy a pew regularly, but the true Church is the Body of Christ that grows not weekly, but daily by the power of God and the evidence of our love for one another (Acts 2:47).

So, here’s a suggestion. If you want Jesus to know how much you love Him show it by loving one of His who you haven’t seen since Christmas.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4