Imagine…

You're in a room with most of your really good friends/teammates. You get through eating, and are hanging out. The whole time you've been eating, other things have been going through your mind. You know for a fact that one of your friends is going to betray you. To make matters worse, it's a friend that has a lot of responsibility within the team. Well, you look at him and tell him to do whatever it is he is going to do to betray you. He leaves. Not only is he going to turn you in, he knows (and you know) that you are going to be murdered because of it! What do you do?

I think I'd stop him, beat him pretty bad maybe? Kick him in the junk?

Now he's gone, your fate is pretty much sealed. It's just you and your boys, and they are clueless (in many ways.) So what do you say?

I think I may tell them what our friend just did, Maybe let them know how big of a trader he is.....
But no. Jesus teaches an amazing lesson.

John 13:34-35
"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."

A friend just betrayed him, a betrayal that would lead to His horrific death, yet Jesus still teaches love. People piss me off, and I just want to "blow up" and tell them how it is by using words that would make people wearing WWJD bracelets blush. But this verse reminds me that I can't, or at least shouldn't. Because this world doesn't know that I am a Christian because I go to church(the world doesn't care about my church attendance.) The world doesn't care if I am the weird guy who always has a Bible in his back pocket or not. The world really won't think much of it if I tell them I am a Christian.

This last verse tells me, that the only thing that men(the world) will have to see Jesus-is the way His followers love other people. If we love like Jesus did, we won't have to wear silly bracelets, or make sure our cross bling is on the outside of our shirt. If we love like Jesus, we won't have to tell people we are different because of our relationship with Christ, people will ask us why we are so different from everyone else. That's just it. We aren't too different. We get mad at Taco Bell because we said no beans extra cheese NOT EXTRA BEANS, NO CHEESE. We ignore hungry people by telling ourselves that "we give at church and part of that helps the poor." We try to avoid people who live like hell because we are afraid someone might see us with them (did you ever notice that not only did Jesus hang out with these people, but they really seemed to like Him too?)

It's not how much we know in the Bible, how much time we volunteer at the church, or how often we pray. The key indicator on how close to Jesus we really are is this: Do we love other people? All the other stuff is important, but how you treat others is the most important. If you don't believe me, see what Jesus said when they asked Him what the greatest commandment is.

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