I started really disliking one particular college team because a guy we know is a diehard fan and really loves this team. This guy leaves a bad taste in our mouths. He speaks horribly about his wife, he has lied to us for years and we just cannot trust him. Because of his behavior, I couldn’t stand “his” team. That team has been a rivalry of my beloved VOLS long before I was ever even a student at The University of Tennessee. Sure, some VOLS “hate” this team, but I have always viewed it as a friendly rivalry. Until “this” guy. And he left a very bad taste in my mouth for this particular team, simply because of his “diehard fan” status.
But when I took a step back, I realized one of my dearest sister-friends graduated from law school at this very university. And I love and adore her, as well as several of her friends who are now my friends, who also graduated from law school there.
I am also well aware there are University of Tennessee fans out there who could be just as lousy as the guy we know, which is a bad representation for the VOLS.
Too many Christians represent Christianity in a way it leaves a bad taste for people who don’t know Jesus. These Christians aren’t faces of love. They’re judgmental. They’re mean. They make excuses for bad behavior. And then the people who are watching us (the church, collectively) shake their heads and say, “If that’s Christianity, I want nothing to do with it.” We are all guilty of this, and it’s time we stop.
“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” - John 13:35 (NLT)
When we stand on street corners with a megaphone damning people to hell, we are not the face of love, and we prove nothing to the world about being Jesus’ disciples. When we tell someone they are not welcome in our church because of their lifestyle choices, we are not the face of love, and we prove nothing to the world about being Jesus’ disciples. When we name-call or laugh at someone else who belittles someone or a group of people, we are not the face of love, and we prove nothing to the world about being Jesus’ disciples. When we want to keep unborn babies protected, but want to burn other people at the stake, we are not the face of love, and we prove nothing to the world about being Jesus’ disciples. When we do not have empathy for the lives in peril outside of our own country’s borders, we are not the face of love, and we prove nothing to the world about being Jesus’ disciples.
If we are not living our lives in love, we are leaving a bad taste about Christianity for the people watching us. I am 100% pro life and want every unborn child to have an opportunity for life. But it should not stop there, at birth. We should be cultivating a better place for those babies to grow. We should be loving one another so well, those babies will grow up knowing we are Jesus’ disciples. We are not showing those babies this love when we are arrogant, entitled, cruel and unkind.
Let’s leave a sweet taste for the world to see we love Jesus. It won’t be hard if we just start loving more and hating less.