Love One Another

In his devotional, Guilty By Love by Pastor Matt Shull he poses a question that one of his professors had asked his class, “If you were on trial in a foreign country and your crime was being a ‘Christian’, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Now, I know that in most cases if we are on trial for a crime we are aiming for a NOT GUILTY verdict, however, this question really convicted me. If this was what I was on trial for y’all…..I want a great BIG OLE GUILTY!! Guilty by association, guilty, guilty, guilty! In John 13:34-35 (TPT) Jesus Himself gives us a new command, “So I give you now a new commandment: Love each other just as much as I have loved you. For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you are my true followers.” So let me ask you the same question that Pastor Matt’s professor asked him, if you were the one on trial today for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Think about it. If the greatest command is to love God and love people where does all the evidence point to in your life? Look at your bank statement, your text messages, your social media posts, your streaming accounts, where you spend your time and in some cases the people that you allow into your life that influence you. Remember, it only takes one bad apple to spoil a bunch. All these things say so much about who we are. They show others where our priorities are, where we spend our time, what we spend our time on and what really matters most in our life. You may be thinking, “Donna, in one breath you say to love people, and in the next your saying to watch who you hang out with. Which is correct?” There are people in our lives that we need to love, we are called to love, but we do not need to give full access to. A friend explained it to me once like this. Look at your friendships like a target. The bullseye, that is the full access pass. Those are the friends that you have given permission to speak truth to you, they know you! This circle may only have a hand full of people in it. That’s ok! The next interior circle will have those that you spend time with, they are ones that you consider to be true friends, you may hang out on the daily/weekly, share texts or phone calls during the week, but they don’t have full access, but you can trust them you can depend on them. This circle may have two handfuls or so in it. Then you have the circle right outside of that, these are people that you encounter frequently, you are on a first name basis, you exchange good conversations, you have fun together but you don’t necessarily hang out with them to much outside of whatever activity you usually encounter them in. Then there is the exterior circle. These people are more like acquaintances. You are kind, friendly, you exchange small talk with them but they are not the ones you would genuinely share your whole life story with. The thing is, these circles are not set in stone. People can transition in and out of them in different seasons of your life. Some will stay forever and some are there just for a season. Why did I go into all that when I simply asked if there is enough evidence that would convict you as being a Christian? Well, because if the greatest commandment is to love God and love others then we don't get to choose who we love. Anyone in that target, even the ones in the furthest circle are who we need love. Some may be a little prickly, but if we are being honest with ourselves, we can all be a little prickly at times. When we love others as Christ loves us, that's when others see Jesus in us. When we put the label of Christian on ourselves, people are watching. Do you put your money where your mouth is? If someone in that exterior circle, heck someone not even on the target needs help, are you willing to help them. Sometimes we are called to extend our hands, our finances our time to people that we don't necessarily believe deserves it, but my friend, I hate to burst your bubble, neither do we. It's easy to help those that we know and trust, but it's a little harder to extend a hand, or finances to those we don't. What about your text messages or social media accounts, the things we are watching on the streaming platforms? We used to ask our youth, "If Jesus was literally sitting next to you right now, would you say that, post that, watch that?" We need to ask ourselves that same question. These things can very well be used against us in this trial of life! So my closing argument is this. If the evidence of your life does not point others directly back to Jesus. If your life choices do not glorify God our Father, then I believe the jury would find you NOT GUILTY of being a Christian. Hear me when I say, only you know what your relationship is with Christ. No one can argue your testimony, nor can they know what your "salvation" status is. That is fully between you and God. BUT, if you are on trial and a jury is looking to convict you, they are looking for proof beyond reasonable doubt. What does "beyond reasonable doubt" mean? According to the AI overview on my Iphone it means, "that the evidence presented against the defendant must be so convincing that there is no other logical explanation for the facts, leaving the judge or jury firmly convinced of the defendant's guilt." So basically, you may very well be saved, but if your actions do not depict that of Christ then what would the jury have to go off of? We do not get into Heaven by works, nor are we saved by our works, but people know we are His disciples by our actions. So again, I ask you, does your life give proof that you are a Christ follower beyond any reasonable doubt?