A new command I give you; love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.   By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.                         John 13:34-35

I had a conversation with an Asian unbeliever once a number of years ago.  I don’t remember all that much about what or when or whom, but one thing I have never forgotten.  America carries the mantle of a ‘Christian nation.’ We also celebrate and endorse by our devotion, investment, and interest, certain individuals who may or may not exemplify our own beliefs or convictions.  In this conversation, it became apparent that the individual believed that some of the celebrities our country tout most highly must be Christians because why else would a Christian nation endorse them so whole-heartedly.  His vision of Christian faith:  Britney Spears.  Could be any number of other souls these days, heaven help us, it’s more like the Cyrus girl now.  

His world was watching the lives of the people we endorse and assuming that, as Christians, they reflected the morals and convictions of believers as a whole.  Imagine his surprise when I managed to keep my clothes on, never appeared drunk or disorderly, and didn’t require a ‘bleep’ button to sensor my speech.  

I drove the same Honda Civic for nearly 15 years.  During almost the entirety of those years, I had something in the glove box: a little metal icthus- a Jesus-fish- that was designed for the back of my car.  It never made it that far.  I’m not a great driver now, but I used to be truly awful.  I was known to read the Wall Street Journal on my way to class after work every night.  Speed limits were merely suggestions and other drivers simply had no idea what their cars were capable of.  And I knew that if all someone knew of me was how I drove, they might not have a very good opinion.  I also knew that I didn’t need to be dragging that little fish down into the gutter with me.  (I now humbly admit that I do not have such a fish on my current automobile either.)

My mind is something of a mass of images that speak to this point.  My daughter loves emojis.  There are some with monkeys covering their ears, eyes, or mouths.  There’s an older song that features a child singing “be careful little eyes what you see….”  I think of young men who teach at my kids school who are fun and funny and jovial and kind.  And God-fearing.  I think of my daughter who just loves some of the high schoolers who come and hang out in the lower school classrooms and treat the younger kids with kindness and respect.  I think of the professional athletes who have and who have not represented themselves, our country, or their families well.  I think of those whose vision never seems to reach as far as their own noses, failing to see the many eyes just outside their line of vision, eyes watching them so intently.  

All these things share this thought in common:  All the World is Watching.  

Our lives are not solitary events of little or no consequence on the surrounding world.  We are all in this together and what we do is fodder for little eyes and a map for those who will follow.  

Around the world, unbelievers have been led down a winding road of Christian representation.  They’ve seen torment and anxiety, hate and discord, philanthropy and kindness, generosity and love.  And they’ve all born the same mantra, “It’s what Christ would do.”  What are they to think?  

I don’t see how anyone could come face to face with my Jesus and ever believe Him unkind, unloving, or undesirable.  

And yet much of the world holds just that opinion of His image bearers and namesake.

A friend commented to me today, “They all react to kindness and form opinions of Christians from the interactions they have with us.”  History and propaganda, abuse, strife, and misrepresentation, these things have given the world a rather jaded view of believers.  I see only one way to set that right.

They will know us by our love.

I may not be able to change an entire nation or people group’s opinion of my God, but I can indeed challenge the opinion of the one soul I will encounter on the street today. I can attempt to make right that which has gone so terribly wrong.  

We’ve been appointed “ambassadors of His love” (again my friend’s beautiful wording) and that is a high and lofty calling toward which we ought to daily strive.

You did not chose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last.                                     John 15:16

Dedicated to DD, whose words of encouragement have sent my heart soaring today.