I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but my mind tends to wander into deep thought when I’m walking our dog. Since he only weighs 6 lbs and is really chill, he doesn’t require much effort, so I can allow my mind to drift off 2-3 times a day while walking him. Anyway, on a recent walk, I began thinking about Jesus’ words in John 13:35…

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

This is a well-known and often preached on passage of Scripture with good reason. Jesus has just defined what that love is supposed to look like in verse 34: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” In other words, it is in laying our lives down for our brothers and sisters in Christ that will cause the world to know we are His disciples. We often conclude that what this means is if we would just get along and love each other, the lost would come to know Christ. The problem with that interpretation is that isn’t what Jesus said. He said, “they will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” Nothing is mentioned by Jesus on whether that would always result in salvation or not.

Think with me to the early church in the book of Acts. It wasn’t often a positive interaction for the apostles and early disciples to be recognized as followers of Christ. As a matter of fact, it often got them hatred, imprisonment, and even death.

What am I getting at with all of this? The Bible never says that our love will make the Gospel attractive to unbelievers. But how many times have we been taught that? We often hear things like, “the reason the world wants nothing to do with Christianity is because of all the division and bitterness among Christians.” Hear me clearly, hatred, bitterness, and strife have no place in the body of Christ. It should always be called out and those involved called to repentance. But Jesus nor the Scriptures ever told us that if we were just nicer to each other, more people would be saved.

Instead, we find things like “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing” (1 Corinthians 1:18) and “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Does this distinction matter though? I believe it matters a great deal because when we see the world hating us and rejecting the Gospel if we believe that it’s always simply a result of a lack of love on our part, we begin to become more silent about the Gospel in an effort to not offend and make the Gospel more ‘attractive.’ Yes, Jesus’ love and compassion drew many great crowds, but it was his proclamation of the Gospel that also drove most of them away. Our compassion does not save anyone. It is only God’s compassion, love, and grace, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ that saves - that’s what we are called to proclaim.

So the next time you read the words of John 13:35, remember that the world recognizing we are disciples of Christ is a good thing, but it also may lead to hatred and persecution like it often did for the early church. Don’t let men and women’s rejection of the Gospel cause you to water it down in an effort to appear more loving. True Christlike love proclaims the truth. And yes, do so in kindness, gentleness, and love. But also do so with boldness. In that moment when someone recognizes you as a Christian because of your love and asks you for a reason for the hope that’s in you, be ready to give an answer, and then give it. (1 Peter 3:15)