A New Command

I can be narrow-minded.  Sometimes when I say "in my faith", I am referring to the people that believe and worship the same way that I do.  I may be referring to those that belong to the same denomination or maybe a larger group of followers that are dispersed throughout the many denominations of Protestantism and within Catholicism that generally profess their faith in the same manner as do I.  If I make this reference (in this manner), I am narrowing what it means to be of a follower of Jesus to fit within my definition.  

Sometimes, I can be even more narrow-minded by referring to people that are "in my church".  Considering the fact that the biblical definition of church is the entire body of Christ's followers, I am incredibly negligent in excluding followers that attend other "churches" when making this particular reference.  

These two references don't usually offend other followers because they are not meant to be negative.  Plus, they are used so prevalently by other followers.  But, these references might point to a problem within our faith (OK, this time "within our faith" truly does mean everyone that is on the journey to/with Christ).  The problem?  A lack of love.

Jesus said:  “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.” (John 13:34-35).  Note:  I chuckled as I copied-n-pasted this from Biblegateway.com because he repeated the command three times in this very short passage.  So, I think he meant it.

To our own chagrin, today's Christian isn't known for his/her adherence to this command - our tendency is to gravitate toward our differences and focus on those places of our disagreement.  The result is that we cast our judgement on others, disassociate ourselves from them and consequently, tend to shrink the church.  Let us open our hearts to all believers...yes, even to those that may be in a very different place within their journey than our own.  Perhaps by accident, we might be an attraction to those who do not yet believe.