TheMarkoftheChristian

Through the centuriesmenhavedisplayedmanydifferentsymbolstoshowthat they are Christians.Theyhavewornmarks inthe lapels of their coats,

hung chains about theirnecks, even had specialhaircuts.

Of course, there isnothing intrinsicallywrongwithanyof this, ifone feels it is his calling.Butthereisamuchbettersign—amarkthathasnotbeen thought up just as amatter of expediency foruse on some special

occasion or in somespecific era. It is auniversal mark that is tolastthroughalltheagesofthe church until Jesuscomesback.

Whatisthismark?

At the close of Hisministry, Jesus looksforward to His death onthe cross, the open tomband the ascension.

KnowingthatHeisaboutto leave, Jesus preparesHis disciples for what istocome.ItisherethatHemakes clear what will bethedistinguishingmarkoftheChristian.Little children, yet a little while Iam with you. Ye shall seek me;andasIsaiduntotheJews,WhereIgo,yecannotcome;sonowIsayto you. A new commandment Igive unto you, that ye love oneanother; as I have loved you, that

ye also love one another. By thisshallallmenknowthatyearemydisciples, if ye have love one toanother.(John13:33-35)

This passage revealsthemark that Jesus givesto label a Christian notjust in one era or in onelocality, but at all timesand all places until Jesusreturns.

Notice that what Hesays here is not a

statementorafact. It isacommand which includesa condition: "A newcommandmentIgiveuntoyou, that ye love oneanother; as I have lovedyou,thatyealsoloveoneanother. By this shall allmenknowthatyearemydisciples, i/you have loveone to another." An if isinvolved.Ifyouobey,you

willwearthebadgeChristgave. But since this is acommand, it can beviolated.

The point is that it ispossible to be aChristianwithout showing themark; but if we expectnon-Christians to knowthatweareChristians,wemustshowthemark.

In 1 John 3:11 John

says, "For this is themessage that ye heardfrom the beginning, thatwe should love oneanother." Years afterChrist's death, John, inwriting the epistle, callsus back to Christ'soriginalcommandinJohn13. Speaking to thechurch, John in effectsays,"Don'tforgetthis...

Don't forget this. Thiscommandwasgiventousby Christ while He wasstill on the earth. This istobeyourmark."

MenandBrothers

ThecommandinJohn13

and1John3istoloveourfellow-Christians, ourbrothers. But, of course,we must strike a balanceand not forget the othersideofJesus'teaching:weare to love our fellowmen, to love all men infact,asneighbors.

AllmenbeartheimageofGod.Theyhavevalue,not because they are

redeemed, but becausetheyareGod'screation inGod's image. Modernman, who has rejectedthis,hasnoclueastowhohe is, and because of thishe can find no real valuefor himself or for othermen. Hence, hedowngrades the value ofother men and producesthehorriblethingweface

today—a sick culture inwhich men treat men asless than human, asmachines. As Christians,however, we know thevalueofmen.

All men are ourneighbors, and we are tolove them as ourselves.We are to do this on thebasis of creation, even iftheyarenotredeemed,for

all men have valuebecause they aremade inthe image of God.Therefore, they are to belovedevenatgreatcost.

This is, of course, thewholepointofJesus'storyof the good Samaritan:because a man is a man,he is to be loved at allcost.

So when Jesus gives

the special command tolove ourChristianbrothers, itdoesnot negate the othercommand. The two arenot antithetical. We arenot to choose betweenloving all men asourselves and loving theChristianinaspecialway.The two commandsreinforceeachother.

If Jesus hascommanded so stronglythat we love all men asour neighbors, then howimportant it is especiallyto love our fellow-Christians. If we are toldto love all men as ourneighbors—as ourselves—then surely, when itcomes to those withwhomwehavethespecial

bonds as fellow-Christians—having oneFather through one JesusChrist and being indweltby one Spirit—we canunderstand howoverwhelminglyimportantitisthatallmenbe able to see anobservable love towardthosewithwhomwehavethese special ties. Paul

makes the doubleobligation clear in Gala-tians 6:10—"Aswe have,therefore, opportunity, letus do good unto allmen,especially unto themwhoare of the household offaith."Hedoesnotnegatethe command to do goodto all men. But it is stillnot meaningless to add,"especially unto them

whoare of thehouseholdof faith." This dual goalshould be our Christianmentality, the set of ourminds; we should beconsciously thinkingaboutitandwhatitmeansin our one-moment-at-a-timelives.Itshouldbetheattitude that governs ouroutward observableactions.

Very often the trueBible-believing Christian,in his emphasis on twohumanities—onelost,onesaved—one still standingin rebellion against God,the other having returnedto God through Christ—has given a picture ofexclusiveness which isugly.

There are two

humanities. That is true.Some men made in theimageofGodstillstandinrebellion against Him;some, by the grace ofGod,havecastthemselvesuponGod'ssolution.

Nonetheless, there is inanother very importantsense only one humanity.All men derive from oneorigin. By creation all

men bear the image ofGod.Inthissenseallmenare of one flesh, oneblood.

Hence, theexclusiveness of theexistence of the twohumanities is undergirdedby the unity of all men.AndChristians are not tolove their believingbrothers to the exclusion

of their nonbelievingfellow men. We are tohave the example of thegood Samaritanconsciouslyinmindatalltimes.

ADelicateBalance

Thefirstcommandmentisto love theLord ourGodwith all our heart, souland mind. The secondcommandment bears theuniversal command tolovemen.Notice that thesecond commandment isnotjusttoloveChristians.It is far wider than this.We are to love ourneighborasourselves.

First Thessalonians3:12 carries the samedouble emphasis: "Andthe Lord make you toincrease and abound inlove one toward another,and toward allmen, evenas we do toward you."Heretheorderisreversed.Firstofall,wearetohavelove one toward anotherand then toward all men,

but that does not changethe double emphasis.Rather, it points up thedelicate balance—abalance that is not inpractice automaticallymaintained.

ForTrueChristiansOnly

If we look again at thecommand in John 13,wewill notice someimportant things. First ofall, this is a command tohave a special love to alltrue Christians, all born-againChristians.Fromthescriptural viewpoint, notall who call themselvesChristians are Christians,and that is especially true

in our generation. Themeaning of the wordChristian has beenreduced to practicallynothing. Surely, there isnoword that has been sodevalued unless it is theword God itself. Centralto semantics is the ideathat a word as a symbolhas no meaning untilcontentisputintoit.This

is quite correct. Becausethe word Christian as asymbol has beenmade tomeansolittle,ithascometo mean everything andnothing.

Jesus, however, istalking about loving alltrue Christians. And thisisacommandthathastwocuttingedges,foritmeansthat we must both

distinguishtrueChristiansfromallpretendersandbesurethatweleavenotrueChristians outside of ourconsideration. In otherwords, humanists andliberal theologians whocontinue to use theChristian label, or churchmemberswhoseChristiandesignation is only aformality, are not to be

accounted trueChristianity.

Butwemustbecarefulof the opposite error.Wemust include everyonewhostandsinthehistoric,biblical faith whether ornotheisamemberofourown party or our owngroup.

ButevenifamanisnotamongthetrueChristians,

we still have theresponsibility to love himas our neighbor. So wecannot say, "Now here'ssomebodythat,asfarasIcan tell, does not standamong the group of trueChristians,andthereforeIdon'thavetothinkofhimany more; I can justslough him off." Not atall. He is covered by the

secondcommandment.

TheStandardofQuality

The second thing tonotice in these verses inJohn 13 is the quality ofthe love that is to be our

standard. We are to loveallChristians"asI,"Jesussays, "have loved you."Now think of both thequalityandthequantityofJesus' love toward us. Ofcourse,He is infinite andwe are finite; He is God,we are men. Since He isinfinite, our love cannever be like His; it canneverbeaninfinitelove.

Nevertheless, the loveHe exhibited then andexhibits now is to be ourstandard.Wedarehavenolesserstandard.Wearetolove true Christians asChristhaslovedus.Whenwe say this, eitherof twothings can happen. Wecanjustsay,"Isee!Isee!"and we can make a littleflag andwrite on it, "We

LoveAllChristians!"Youcanseeus trudgingalongwith our little flags—allrolled up—"WeLoveAllChristians!"—and at theappropriate moment, wetake off all the rubberbands, unzip the cover,andput itup.Wewaveitaswecarryitalong—"WeLove All Christians!"Howugly!

It can be either thisexceedinglyuglything,asugly as anything anyonecould imagine, or it canbesomethingasprofoundas anyone could imagine.Andifitistobethelatter,itwilltakeagreatdealoftime, a great deal ofconscious talking andwriting about it, a greatdeal of thinking and

praying about it on thepartoftheBible-believingChristians.

The church is to be aloving church in a dyingculture.How, then, is thedying culture going toconsider us? Jesus says,"By this shall all menknow that ye are mydisciples, if ye have loveone to another." In the

midstof theworld, in themidst of our presentculture, Jesus is giving aright to the world. UponHisauthorityHegivestheworld the right to judgewhether you and I areborn-again Christians onthe basis of ourobservablelovetowardallChristians.

That's pretty

frightening.Jesus turns tothe world and says, "I'vesomething to say to you.On the basis of Myauthority, I give you aright: you may judgewhether or not anindividual is a Christianonthebasisoftheloveheshows to all Christians."In other words, if peoplecomeuptousandcastin

our teeth the judgmentthatwearenotChristiansbecause we have notshown love toward otherChristians, we mustunderstand that they areonly exercising aprerogative which Jesusgavethem.

And we must not getangry.Ifpeoplesay,"Youdon't love other

Christians," we must gohome, get down on ourknees, and ask Godwhether or not what theysay is true. And if it is,then they have a right tohavesaidwhattheysaid.

FailureinLove

Wemust be very carefulatthispoint,however.Wemay be true Christians,really born-againChristians, and yet fail inour love toward otherChristians.Asamatteroffact, to be completelyrealistic,itisstrongerthanthis. There will be times(let us say it with tears),there will be times when

we will fail in our lovetoward each other asChristians. In a fallenworld, where there is nosuch thing as perfectionuntil Jesus comes, weknowthiswillbethecase.And, of course, whenwefail we must ask God'sforgiveness. But Jesus isnot here saying that ourfailure to love all

Christians proves that wearenotChristians.

Let each of us see thisindividuallyforourselves.IfIfailinmylovetowardChristians, it does notprove I am not aChristian. What Jesus issaying,however,isthatifI do not have the love Ishould have toward allother Christians, the

world has the right tomake the judgment that IamnotaChristian.

This distinction isimperative. If we fail inour love toward allChristians, we must nottear our heart out asthough it were proof thatwearelost.NooneexceptChrist Himself has everlived and not failed. If

successinlovetowardourbrothers inChristwere tobethestandardofwhetheror not a man is aChristian, then therewould be no Christians,because all men havefailed.ButJesusgivestheworld a piece of litmuspaper, a reasonablethermometer. There is amark which, if the world

doesnotsee,allows themtoconclude,"Thisman isnot a Christian." Ofcourse, theworldmay bemakingawrongjudgmentbecauseifthemanistrulya Christian, as far as thereality goes, theymade amistake.

It is true that a non-Christian often hidesbehind what he sees in

Christians and thenscreams, "Hypocrites!"when in reality he is asinner who will not facethe claims of Christ. Butthat is not what Jesus istalking about here. HereJesus is talking about ourresponsibility asindividuals and as groupsto so love all other trueChristians that the world

will have no valid reasonforsayingthatwearenotChristians.

TheFinalApologetic

But there is somethingeven more sober. And tounderstand it we must

look at John 17:21, averse out of the midst ofChrist's high priestlyprayer.Jesusprays,"Thatthey all may be one, asthou, Father, art in me,and I in thee, that theyalso may be one in us;that the world maybelievethatthouhastsentme." In this, His highpriestly prayer, Jesus is

prayingfortheonenessofthe church, the onenessthat should be foundspecifically among trueChristians. Jesus is notpraying for a humanistic,romantic oneness amongmen in general. Verse 9makes this clear: "I praynot for theworld, but forthem whom thou hastgiven me; for they are

thine."Jesusheremakesavery careful distinctionbetween those who havecastthemselvesuponHiminfaithandthosewhostillstand in rebellion.Hence,inthe21stverse,whenHeprays for oneness, the"they" He is referring toarethetrueChristians.

Notice, however, thatverse 21 says, "that they

all may be one ..." Theemphasis, interestinglyenough, is exactly thesame as in John 13—notthat those in certainparties in the churchshouldbeone,butthatallborn-again Christiansshouldbeone.

Now comes thesobering part. Jesus goesoninthis21stversetosay

something that alwayscausesme tocringe. IfasChristians we do notcringe, itseemstomeweare not very sensitive orvery honest, becauseJesus here gives us thefinal apologetic. What isthe final apologetic?"Thattheyallmaybeone,asthou,Father,artinme,and I in thee, that they

also may be one in us;thattheworldmaybelievethat thou hast sent me."This is the finalapologetic.

In John 13 the pointwas that if an individualChristian does not showlove toward other trueChristians,theworldhasaright to judge that he isnot a Christian. Here

Jesusisstatingsomethingelse which is much morecutting, much moreprofound: we cannotexpect the world tobelieve that the Fathersent the Son, that Jesus'claims are true, and thatChristianityistrue,unlessthe world sees somereality of the oneness oftrueChristians.

Nowthatisfrightening.Should we not feel someemotionatthispoint?

Look at it again. Jesusis not saying thatChristians should judgeeach other (as to theirbeingChristianornot)onthis basis. Please noticethiswithtremendouscare.The church is to judgewhether a man is a

Christian on the basis ofhis doctrine, thepropositional content ofhis faith, and then hiscredible profession offaith.Whenamancomesbeforea local church thatisdoingitsjob,hewillbequizzedon the content ofwhat he believes. If, forexample, a church isconducting a heresy trial

(the New Testamentindicates there are to betrials in the church ofChrist), the question ofheresy will turn on thecontent of the man'sdoctrine.Thechurchhasarighttojudge—infactitiscommanded to judge—aman on the content ofwhat he believes andteaches.

But we cannot expectthe world to judge thatway, because the worldcares nothing aboutdoctrine. That isespecially true in thesecond half of thetwentieth century when,on the basis of theirepistemology, men nolongerbelieveeveninthepossibility of absolute

truth. And if we aresurrounded by a worldwhich no longer believesin the concept of truth,certainly we cannotexpectpeopletohaveanyinterest in whether aman's doctrine is correctornot.

But Jesus did give themark that will arrest theattention of the world,

even the attention of themodernmanwhosaysheisjustamachine.Becauseeveryman ismade in theimage of God and hastherefore aspirations forlove, there is somethingthat can be in everygeographical climate—inevery point of time—whichcannotfailtoarresthisattention.

What is it? The lovethat true Christians showforeachotherandnotjustfortheirownparty.

HonestAnswers,ObservableLove

Of course, as Christians

wemustnotminimizetheneed to give honestanswers to honestquestions. We shouldhave an intellectualapologetic. The Biblecommands it, and Christand Paul exemplify it. Inthe synagogue, in themarketplace, in homes,and in almost everyconceivable kind of

situation, Jesus and Pauldiscussed Christianity. Itis likewise theChristian'stask tobeable togiveanhonest answer to anhonest question and thentogiveit.

Yet, unless trueChristians showobservable love to eachother, Christ says theworld cannot be expected

to listen, even when wegive proper answers. Letus be careful, indeed, tospend a lifetime studyingto give honest answers.For years the orthodox,evangelical church hasdone this very poorly. Soit is well to spend timelearning to answer thequestions of those whoareaboutus.Butafterwe

have done our best tocommunicate to a lostworld,stillwemustneverforget that the finalapologetic which Jesusgives is the observableloveoftrueChristiansfortrueChristians.

While it is not thecentral consideration thatI am dealing with at thistime, yet the observable

love and oneness amongtrue Christians exhibitedbefore the world mustcertainly cross all thelines which divide men.TheNewTestamentsays,Neither Greek norbarbarian,neitherJewnorGentile, neither male norfemale(1Cor.12:13;Gal.3:28;Col.3:11).

In the church at

Antioch, the Christiansincluded Jews andGentiles and reached allthe way from Herod'sfoster brother to theslaves; and the naturallyproud Greek ChristianGentiles of Macedoniashowed a practicalconcern for the materialneeds of the ChristianJews in Jerusalem. The

observable and practicallove among trueChristians that the worldhas a right to be able toobserve in our daycertainly should cutwithoutreservationacrosssuch lines as language,nationalities, nationalfrontiers, younger andolder, colors of skin,levels of education and

economics,accent,lineofbirth, the class system inany particular locality,dress, short or long hairamongwhitesandAfricanand non-African hairdosamong blacks, culturaldifferentiations, and themore traditional and lesstraditional forms ofworship.

If the world does not

see this down-to-earthpractical love, it will notbelieve that Christ wassentbytheFather.Peoplewill not believe only onthe basis of the properanswers. The two shouldnotbeplacedinantithesis.The world must have theproper answers to theirhonest questions, but atthe same time theremust

be a oneness in lovebetween all trueChristians.ThisiswhatisneededifmenaretoknowthatJesuswassentbytheFather and thatChristianityistrue.

FalseNotionsofUnity

Let us be clear, however,about what this onenessis. We can start byeliminating some falsenotions.

First, the oneness thatJesus is talking about isnot just organizationaloneness.Inourgenerationwe have a tremendouspush for ecclesiasticaloneness. It is in the air—

likeGermanmeasles in atime of epidemic—and itis all about us. Humanbeings can have all sortsof organizational unityand yet exhibit to theworldnounityatall.

The classic example isthe Roman CatholicChurch down through theages.TheRomanCatholicChurch has had a great

external unity—probablythe greatest outwardorganizational unity thathaseverbeenseeninthisworld—but there havebeen at the same timetitanic and hateful powerstruggles between thedifferentorderswithintheonechurch.Todaythereisa still greater differencebetween the classical

Roman Catholicism andprogressive RomanCatholicism. The so-called "progressive"Roman Catholictheologians are the sameas the liberal theologiansin the Protestant groups.The Roman CatholicChurch still tries to standinorganizationaloneness,but there is only

organizational unity, forhere are two completelydifferent religions, twoconcepts of God, twodifferent concepts oftruth.

And exactly the samething is true in theProtestant ecumenicalmovement. There is anattempt to bring peopletogether organizationally

on the basis of Jesus'statement, but there is noreal unity, because twocompletely differentreligions—biblicalChristianity and a"Christianity"whichisnoChristianitywhatsoever—are involved. It isperfectly possible to haveorganizational unity, tospendawhole lifetimeof

energy on it, and yet tocome nowhere near therealmthatJesusistalkingaboutinJohn17.

I do not wish todisparage properorganizational unity on aproperdoctrinalbasis.ButJesusisheretalkingaboutsomething very different,for there can be a greatorganizational unity

withoutanyonenessatall—even in churches thathave fought for purity ofdoctrine.

I believe very stronglyin the principle andpractice of the purity ofthe visible church, but Ihave seen churches thathavefoughtforpurityandare merely hotbeds ofugliness. No longer is

there any observable,loving, personalrelationship even in theirownmidst, let alonewithothertrueChristians.

There is a furtherreason why one cannotinterpret this unity ofwhich Christ speaks asorganizational. AllChristians—"that they allmay be one"—are to be

one. It is obvious thatthere can be noorganizational unitywhich could include allborn-again Christianseverywhere in the world.It is justnotpossible.Forexample, there are true,born-againChristianswhobelong to no organizationat all. And what oneorganization could

include those trueChristians standingisolated from the outsideworld by persecution?Obviously organizationalunity, while it has itsproper place, is not thefulfillment of Christ'scommands.

There is a second falsenotion of what this unityinvolves.This is theview

under which evangelicalChristianshaveoftentriedto escape. Too often theevangelical has said,"Well, of course Jesus istalking here about themystical union of theinvisible church." Andthen he lets it go at thatanddoesnotthinkaboutitanymore—ever.

In theological terms

there are, to be sure, avisible church andan invisible church. Theinvisible Church is thereal Church—in a way,theonlychurchthathasaright to be spelledwith acapital. It is mostimportant because it ismadeupofall thosewhohave thrown themselvesupon Christ as Savior. It

is Christ's Church. Assoon as I become aChristian, as soon as IthrowmyselfuponChrist,I become a member ofthisChurch,andthereisamysticalunitybindingmeto all other members.True.But this isnotwhatJesus is talking about inJohn 13 and John 17, forwe cannot break up this

unity no matter what wedo.Thus,torelateChrist'swords to the mysticalunity of the invisibleChurch is to reduceChrist's words to ameaninglessphrase.

Third, he is not talkingaboutourpositionalunityin Christ. It is true thatthere is a positional unityinChrist—thatassoonas

weacceptChristasSaviorwe have one Lord, onebaptism, one birth (thesecond birth), andwe areclothed with Christ'srighteousness. But that'snotthepointhere.

Fourth, we have legalunity in Christ, but he isnot talking about that.There is a beautiful andwonderful legal unity

amongallChristians.TheFather (the Judge of theuniverse) forensicallydeclares, on the basis ofthe finished work ofChrist in space, time andhistory,thatthetruemoralguilt of those who castthemselvesuponChrist isgone.Inthatfactwehavea wonderful unity; butthat is not what Jesus is

talkingabouthere.

It will not do for theevangelical to try toescapeintotheconceptofthe invisible Church andtheseotherrelatedunities.To relate these verses inJohn13andJohn17onlyto the existence of theinvisible Church makesJesus' statement ameaningless statement.

We make a mockery ofwhat Jesus is sayingunlessweunderstand thatHe is talking aboutsomethingvisible.

Thisisthewholepoint:the world is going tojudge whether Jesus hasbeensentbytheFatheronthe basis of somethingthat is open toobservation.

TrueOneness

In John 13 and later 17,Jesus talks about a realvisible oneness, apracticing oneness, apractical oneness acrossall lines, among all true

Christians.

TheChristianreallyhasa double task. He has topractice both God'sholiness and God's love.TheChristianistoexhibitthat God exists as theinfinite-personalGod;andthen he is to exhibitsimultaneously God'scharacter of holiness andlove.NotHislovewithout

Hisholiness—thatisonlycompromise. Anythingthat an individualChristian or Christiangroup does that fails toshow the simultaneousbalanceof theholinessofGod and the love ofGodpresents to a watchingworldnotademonstrationoftheGodwhoexists,buta caricature of the God

whoexists.

According to theScriptureandtheteachingof Christ, the love that isto be shown is to beexceedingly strong—asChrist loved us. It's notjust something youmention inwordsonce inawhile.

VisibleLove

What,then,doesthislovemean? How can it bemadevisible?

First, it means a verysimplething:itmeansthatwhen I have made amistake and when I havefailed to love my

Christian brother, I go tohim and say, "I'm sorry."Thatisfirst.

Itmay seem a letdown—that the first thing wespeak of should be sosimple!Butifyouthinkitis easy, you have nevertriedtopracticeit.

In our own groups, inour own close Christiancommunities, even in our

families, when we haveshownlackoflovetowardanother, we as Christiansdo not just automaticallygo and say we are sorry.Oneventheverysimplestlevelitisneververyeasy.

Itmaysoundsimplistictostartwithsayingwearesorry and askingforgiveness, but it is not.This is the way of

renewed fellowship,whether it is between ahusband and wife, aparentandchild,withinaChristian community, orbetweengroups.Whenwehaveshownalackoflovetoward the other, we arecalled by God to go andsay, "I'm sorry ... I reallyamsorry."

If I am not willing to

say, "I'm sorry" when Ihave wronged somebody—especially when I havenot shown him love—Ihave not even started tothink about the meaningof a Christian onenesswhich the world can see.The world has a right toquestion whether I am aChristian.Andmore thanthat,letmesayitagain,if

Iamnotwillingtodothisvery simple thing, theworld has a right toquestion whether Jesuswas sent from God andwhether Christianity istrue.

How well have weconsciously practicedthis? How often, in thepower of theHoly Spirit,have we gone to

Christians in our owngroup and said, "I'msorry"? How much timehave we spentreestablishing contactwith those in othergroups, saying to them,"I'm sorry for what I'vedone, what I've said, orwhat I've written"? Howfrequently has one groupgone to another group

withwhomitdifferedandsaid, "We're sorry"? Thisis so important that it is,for all practical purposes,apartof thepreachingofthe gospel itself. Theobservable practice oftruth and the observablepractice of love go handin hand with theproclamation of the goodnewsofJesusChrist.

I have observed onething among trueChristians in theirdifferences in manycountries: what dividesand severs true Christiangroups and Christians—what leaves a bitternessthat can last for twenty,thirtyorfortyyears(orforfifty or sixty years in ason'smemory)—isnotthe

issueofdoctrineorbeliefwhich caused thedifferences in the firstplace.Invariablyitislackof love—and the bitterthingsthataresaidbytrueChristians in themidst ofdifferences.Thesestickinthe mind like glue. Andafter time passes and thedifferences between theChristians or the groups

appear less than theydid,thereare still thosebitter,bitterthingswesaidinthemidstofwhatwe thoughtwasagoodandsufficientobjective discussion. It isthese things—theseunloving attitudes andwords—that cause thestench that the world cansmell in the church ofJesus Christ among those

who are really trueChristians.

If, when we feel wemust disagree as trueChristians, we couldsimply guard our tonguesandspeakinlove,theninfive or ten years thebitterness could be gone.Instead of that, we leavescars—a curse forgenerations. Not just a

curse in the church,but acurse in the world.Newspaperheadlinesbearit in our Christian press,and it boils over into thesecular press at times—Christians saying suchbitter things about otherChristians.

The world looks,shrugs its shoulders, andturnsaway.Ithasnotseen

even the beginning of alivingchurchinthemidstof a dying culture. It hasnot seen thebeginningofwhatJesusindicatesisthefinal apologetic—observable onenessamong true Christianswho are truly brothers inChrist.Oursharptongues,the lack of love betweenus—not the necessary

statement of differencesthat may exist betweentrueChristians—these arewhat properly trouble theworld.

How different this isfrom the straightforwardand direct command ofJesus Christ to show anobservableonenesswhichmay be seen by awatchingworld!

Forgiveness

But there is more toobservable love thansayingwearesorry.

There must also beopen forgiveness. Andthough it's hard to

say, "I'm sorry," it's evenharder to forgive. TheBible, however, makesplain that the worldmustobserve a forgiving spiritin the midst of God'speople.

In the Lord's prayer,Jesus Himself teaches usto pray, "Forgive us ourtrespasses, as we forgivethosewhotrespassagainst

us."Nowwemust say atonce,thisprayerisnotforsalvation.Ithasnothingtodowithbeingbornagain,for we are born again onthe basis of the finishedwork of Christ plusnothing. But it does haveto do with a Christian'sexistential, moment-by-moment experientialrelationship to God. We

need a once-for-allforgiveness atjustification, andweneeda moment-by-momentforgiveness for our sinson the basis of Christ'swork in order to be inopen fellowship withGod. What the Lord hastaught us to pray in theLord'sprayershouldmakea Christian very sober

every day of his life: weare asking the Lord toopentoustheexperientialrealities of fellowshipwith Himself as weforgiveothers.

Some Christians saythat the Lord's prayer isnot for this present era;butmostofuswould sayit is.Andyet at the sametimewehardlythinkonce

inayearaboutourlackofa forgiving heart inrelationship to God'sforgiving us. ManyChristians rarely or neverseemtoconnecttheirownlack of reality offellowshipwithGodwiththeir lack of forgivenesstomen, even though theymaysaytheLord'sprayerin a formalwayover and

over in their weeklySundayworshipservices.

Wemustallcontinuallyacknowledge that we donot practice the forgivingheart as we should. Andyettheprayeris,"Forgiveus our debts, ourtrespasses, as we forgiveour debtors." We are tohave a forgiving spiriteven before the other

person expresses regretforhiswrong.TheLord'sprayer does not suggestthatwhentheothermanissorry,thenwearetoshowa oneness by having aforgiving spirit. Rather,we are called upon tohave a forgiving spiritwithout the other manhavingmadethefirststep.Wemaystillsaythatheis

wrong,butinthemidstofsaying that he is wrong,wemustbeforgiving.

We are to have thisforgiving spirit not onlytoward Christians, buttowardallmen.Butsurelyifitistowardallmen,itisimportant towardChristians.

Such a forgiving spiritregisters an attitude of

love toward others. Buteven though one can callthis an attitude, trueforgiveness is observable.Believeme,youcan lookonaman'sfaceandknowwhere he is as far asforgiveness is concerned.Andtheworldiscalledonto look at us and seewhether we have loveacross the groups, love

acrosspartylines.Dotheyobserve thatwe say, "I'msorry," and do theyobserveaforgivingheart?Let me repeat: our lovewill not be perfect, but itmust be substantialenoughfortheworldtobeable toobserveor it doesnotfitintothestructureoftheverses in John13andJohn17.Andiftheworld

does not observe thisamongtrueChristians,theworldhasaright tomakethe two awful judgmentswhich these versesindicate: that we are notChristians,andthatChristwas not sent by theFather.

WhenChristians

Disagree

What happens, then,whenwemustdifferwithour brothers in Christbecause of the need alsoto show forth God'sholinesseitherindoctrineorinlife?Inthematteroflife,Paulclearlyshowsusthe balance in 1 and 2

Corinthians. The samething applies in doctrineaswell.

First, in 1 Corinthains5:1-5 he scolds theCorinthian church forallowingamanwhoisanactivefornicatortostayinthe church withoutdiscipline.Becauseof theholiness of God, becauseoftheneedtoexhibit this

holiness to a watchingworld, and because suchjudgment on the basis ofGod's revealed law isright in God's sight, Paulscolds the church for notdiscipliningtheman.

After they havedisciplined him, Paulwrites again to them in 2Corinthians 2:6-8 andscolds them because they

are not showing lovetoward him. These twothings must standtogether.

I am thankful that wehave the record of Paulwriting this way, in hisfirst letterandhissecond,forhereyouseeapassageof time. The Corinthianshave taken his advice,they have disciplined the

Christian, and now Paulwrites to them, "You'redisciplininghim,butwhydon't you showyour lovetoward him?" He couldhave gone on and quotedJesus in saying, "Don'tyou realize that thesurrounding pagans ofCorinthhavearighttosaythatJesuswasnotsentbythe Father because you

are not showing love tothismanthatyouproperlydisciplined?"

A very importantquestion arises at thispoint:howcanweexhibitthe oneness Christcommands withoutsharing in the otherpeople's mistakes? Iwouldsuggestafewwaysbywhichwecanpractice

and show this onenesseven across the lineswherewemustdiffer.

Regret

First, we should nevercome to such differencewith true Christians

withoutregretandwithouttears. Sounds simple,doesn't it? Believe me,evangelicals often havenot shown it.We rush in,being very, very pleased,itwouldseemattimes,tofind other people'smistakes. We buildourselves up by tearingother people down. Thiscan never show a real

oneness amongChristians.

There is only one kindof person who can fightthe Lord's battles inanywhere near a properway, and that is theperson who by nature isunbelligerent. Abelligerent man tends todo it because he isbelligerent; at least it

looksthatway.Theworldmust observe that whenwe must differ with eachother as true Christians,we do it not because welove the smell of blood,thesmellofthearena,thesmellof thebullfight,butbecause we must forGod's sake. If there aretears when we mustspeak, then something

beautifulcanbeobserved.

Second, in proportionto the gravity of what iswrong between trueChristians, it is importantconsciously to exhibit anobservable love to theworld.Not all differencesamong Christians areequallyserious.Therearesomethatareveryminor.Others are

overwhelminglyimportant.

The more serious thewrongness is, the moreimportant it is to exhibitthe holiness of God, tospeak out concerningwhat is wrong. At thesame time, the moreserious the differencesbecome, the moreimportant it becomes that

welooktotheHolySpirittoenableus toshowlovetothetrueChristianswithwhomwemustdiffer.

If it is only a minordifference, showing lovedoes not take muchconscious consideration.But where the differencebecomesreally important,it becomesproportionately more

important to speak forGod's holiness. And itbecomes increasinglyimportant in that place toshow the world that westillloveeachother.

Humanly we functionin exactly the oppositedirection: in the lessimportant differences weshow more love towardtrueChristians;butas the

difference gets into moreimportant areas, we tendto show less love. Thereversemust be the case:as the differences amongtrueChristiansgetgreater,wemustconsciously loveand show a love whichhas some manifestationtheworldmaysee.

So let us consider this:ismy differencewithmy

brotherinChristcruciallyimportant? If so, it isdoubly important thatI spend time upon myknees asking the HolySpirit,askingChrist,todoHiswork throughmeandmy group, that I and wemight show love even inthis larger difference thatwe have come to with abrother in Christ or with

another group of trueChristians.

CostlyLove

Third, we must show apractical demonstrationofloveinthemidstofthedilemma, evenwhen it is

costly. The word loveshould not be just abanner. In other words,we must do whatevermustbedone,atwhatevercost, to show this love.We must not say "I loveyou," and then—bang,bang,bang!

So often people thinkthat Christianity is onlysomething soft, only a

kind of gooey love thatloves evil equally withgood. This is not thebiblical position. Theholiness of God is to beexhibited simultaneouslywith love. We must becareful, therefore, not tosay thatwhat iswrong isright, whether it is in theareaofdoctrineoroflife,in our own group or

another.Whatiswrongiswrong anywhere, and wehave a responsibility inthat situation to say thatwhat is wrong is wrong.But the observable lovemust be there regardlessofthecost.

The Bible does notmake these thingsescapable. FirstCorinthians6:1-7reads:

Dare any of you, having a matteragainst another, go to law beforethe unjust (that is, the unsavedpeople),andnotbefore thesaints?Do ye not know that the saintsshall judge the world? And if theworld shall be judged by you, areye unworthy to judge the smallestmatters?Knowyenotthatweshalljudge angels? How much morethings that pertain to this life? If,then, ye have judgments of thingspertaining to this life, set them tojudge who are least esteemed inthechurch.Ispeaktoyourshame.Isitso,thatthereisnotawisemanamongyou?No,notonethatshall

be able to judge between hisbrethren?Butbrothergocthtolawwith brother, and that before theunbelievers. Now, therefore, thereis utterly a fault among you,becauseyegotolawwithanother.Whydoyenotrathertakewrong?Why do ye not rather sufferyourselvestobedefrauded?

What does this mean?The church is not to letpass what is wrong; buttheChristianshouldsufferpractical,monetarylossto

show the oneness trueChristians should haverather than to go to courtagainst other trueChristians; that woulddestroy suchan observable onenessbefore the watchingworld.Thisiscostlylove,but it is just suchpracticinglovethatcanbeseen.

Paul is talking aboutsomething which isobservable, somethingthat is very real: theChristian is to show suchlove in the midst of anunavoidable differencewithhisbrother thatheiswillingtosufferloss—notjustmonetaryloss(thoughmost Christians seem toforget all love and

onenesswhenmoneygetsinvolved), but whateverlossisinvolved.

Whatever the specificsare, there is to be apracticaldemonstrationoflove appropriate to aparticular place. TheBible is a strong anddown-to-earthbook.

A fourth way we canshow and exhibit love

without sharing in ourbrother's mistake is toapproach the problemwith a desire to solve it,rather than with a desiretowin.

We all love to win. Infact, there is nobodywholovestowinmorethanthetheologian.Thehistoryoftheologyisall toooftenalongexhibitionofadesire

towin.

But we shouldunderstand that what weare working for in themidst of our difference isasolution—asolutionthatwill give God the glory,that will be true to theBible,butwillexhibit thelove of Godsimultaneously with Hisholiness. What is our

attitudeaswesitdowntotalk to our brother or asgroupmeetswithgrouptodiscuss differences? Adesiretocomeoutontop?To play one-upmanship?If there is any desire forlove whatsoever, everytime we discuss adifferencewewilldesireasolution and not just thatwecanbeprovenright.

TheDifferenceofDifferences

A fifthway inwhichwecan show a practicing,observable love to theworld without sharing inourbrother'smistakeisto

realize, to keepconsciously beforeus andto help each other to beaware, that it is easy tocompromise and to callwhat is wrong right, butthat it is equally easy toforget to exhibit ouroneness in Christ. Thisattitude must beconstantly andconsciously developed—

talked about and writtenabout in and among ourgroups and amongourselvesasindividuals.

In fact, this must betalked about and writtenabout before differencesarise between trueChristians. We haveconferences abouteverything else.Who haseverheardofaconference

to consider how trueChristians can exhibit inpractice a fidelity to theholiness of God and yetsimultaneously exhibit inpractice a fidelity to thelove of God before thewatching world? Haveyou heard of sermons orwritings which carefullypresent the simultaneouspractice of two principles

which at first seem towork against each other:(1) the principle of thepractice of the purity ofthe visible church inregard to doctrine andlife; and (2) the principleof the practice of anobservable love andoneness among all trueChristians?

If there is no careful

preaching and writingaboutthesethings,areweso foolishas to think thatthere will be anythingbeautifulinpracticewhendifferences between trueChristians must honestlybefaced?

Before a watchingworld,anobservable lovein themidst of differencewill show a difference

between Christians'differences and othermen's differences. Theworldmaynotunderstandwhat the Christians aredisagreeing about, butthey will very quicklyunderstand the differenceof our differences fromthe world's differences ifthey see us having ourdifferencesinanopenand

observable love on apracticallevel.

That 15 different. Canyou see why Jesus saidthis was the thing thatwould arrest the attentionof theworld?Youcannotexpect the world tounderstand doctrinaldifferences, especially inour day when theexistence of truth and

absolutes are consideredunthinkable even asconcepts.

We cannot expect theworld to understand thaton the basis of theholiness of God we arehavingadifferentkindofdifference,becausewearedealing with God'sabsolutes. But when theysee differences among

true Christians who alsoshowanobservableunity,thiswillopenthewayforthemtoconsiderthetruthof Christianity andChrist's claim that theFatherdidsendtheSon.

Asamatterof fact,wehave a greater possibilityof showing what Jesus isspeaking about here, inthe midst of our

differences, thanwedo ifwe are not differing.Obviously we ought notto go out looking fordifferences amongChristians; there areenough without lookingfor more. But even so, itis in the midst of adifference that we haveour golden opportunity.Wheneverythingisgoing

well and we are allstanding around in a nicelittle circle, there is notmuch to be seen by theworld.Butwhenwecometotheplacewherethereisa real difference, and weexhibit uncom-promisedprinciplesbutat thesametime observable love,then there is somethingthat the world can see,

somethingtheycanusetojudgethat thesereallyareChristians, and that Jesushas indeed been sent bytheFather.

LoveinPractice

Letmegivetwobeautiful

examples of suchobservable love. Onehappened among theBrethren groups inGermany immediatelyafterWorldWarII.

In order to control thechurch, Hitlercommanded the union ofall religious groups inGermany, drawing themtogether by law. The

Brethrendividedoverthisissue. Half acceptedHitler's dictum and halfrefused. The ones whosubmitted, of course, hada much easier time, butgradually in thisorganizational onenesswith the liberal groupstheir own doctrinalsharpness and spirituallifesuffered.Ontheother

hand, the group thatstayed out remainedspirituallyvirile,buttherewas hardly a family inwhich someone did notdie in a Germanconcentrationcamp.

Now can you imaginethe emotional tension?Thewarisover,andtheseChristian brothers faceeach other again. They

had the same doctrine,and they had previouslyworked together formorethan a generation. Nowwhat is going to happen?One man remembers thathis father died in aconcentration camp andknowsthatthesepeopleinthe other group remainedsafe. But those on theother side have deep

personalfeelingsaswell.

Then gradually thesebrothers came to knowthat this situation justwouldnotdo.Atimewasappointedwhentheeldersof the two groups couldmeet together inacertainquiet place. I asked theman who told me this,"What did you do?" Hesaid, "Well, I'll tell you

what we did. We cametogether,andwesetasideseveral days in whicheach man would searchhis own heart."Herewasa real difference; theemotions were deeply,deeply involved. "Myfather has gone to theconcentration camp, mymother was draggedaway." These things are

not just little pebbles onthebeach;theyreachintothe deep wellsprings ofhuman emotions. Butthese people understoodthe command of Christaboutthis,andforseveraldays every man didnothing except search hisown heart concerning hisown failures and thecommands of Christ.

Thentheymettogether.

I asked the man, "Whathappenedthen?"

And he said, "We justwereone."

To my mind, this isexactlywhatJesusspeaksabout.TheFatherhassenttheSon!

DividedButOne

The principle we aretalkingabout isuniversal,applicableinalltimesandplaces.Letme, then,giveyou a second illustration—a different practice ofthesameprinciple.

Ihavebeenwaitingfor

yearsforatimewhentwogroups of born-againChristians who for goodreasons find it impossibleto work together separatewithout saying bitterthings against each other.I have longed for twogroups who wouldcontinuetoshowalovetothe watching world whenthey came to the place

where organizationalunity seems no longerpossiblebetweenthem.

Theoretically, ofcourse,everylocalchurchought to be able tominister to the. wholespectrum of society. Butin practice we mustacknowledge that incertain places it becomesvery difficult. The needs

of different segments ofsocietyaredifferent.

A problem of thisnaturearoseinachurchina large city in theUnitedStates. A number ofpeople attuned to themodernageweregoingtoa certain church, but thepastor graduallyconcludedthathewasnotable to preach and

ministertothetwogroupstogether. Some men can,but he personally did notfinditpossibletoministerto the whole spectrum ofhis congregation—thecounterculture people andthe far-out ones theybrought, and at the sametime the people of thesurroundingneighborhood.

The example ofobservable love I amgoingtopresentnowmustnot be taken as an "ofcourse" situation in ourday.Inourgenerationthelackoflovecaneasilycutbothways.Amiddle-classpeople can all too easilybe snobbish and unlovingagainst the countercultureChristians, and the

counterculture Christianscan be equally snobbishand unloving against themiddle-classChristians.

After trying for a longtimetoworktogether,theelders met and decidedthattheywouldmaketwochurches. They made itvery plain that they werenotdividingbecausetheirdoctrine was different;

they were dividing as amatter of practicability.One member of the oldsession went to the newgroup. They workedunderthewholesessiontomake an orderlytransition. Gradually theyhad two churches, andthey were consciouslypracticing love towardeachother.

Here is a lack oforganizational unity thatis a true love and unitywhich the world mayobserve. The Father hassenttheSon!

I want to say with allmy heart that as westruggle with the properpreachingofthegospelinthemidstof the twentiethcentury,theimportanceof

observable love mustcome into our message.We must not forget thefinal apologetic. Theworld has a right to lookupon us as we, as trueChristians, come topractical differences, andit should be able toobserve that we do loveeachother.Ourlovemusthaveaformthattheworld

may observe; it must bevisible.

TheOneTrueMark

Let us look again at thebiblical texts which soclearly indicate the markoftheChristian:

Anew commandment I give untoyou,thatyeloveoneanother;asIhave loved you, that ye also loveone another.By this shall allmenknow that ye are my disciples, ifyehaveloveonetoanother.(John13:34,35)

That they allmaybeone as thou,Father,artinme,andIinthee,thattheyalsomaybeoneinus;thattheworld may believe that thou hastsentme.(John17:21)

What then shall weconclude but that as theSamaritan loved the

wounded man, we asChristiansarecalleduponto love all men asneighbors, loving themasourselves.Second,thatweare to love all trueChristian brothers in away that the world mayobserve. This meansshowing love to ourbrothers in the midst ofour differences—great or

small—loving ourbrothers when it costs ussomething, loving themeven under times oftremendous emotionaltension, loving them in awaytheworldcansee.Inshort, we are to practiceandexhibittheholinessofGodandtheloveofGod,forwithoutthiswegrievetheHolySpirit.

Love—and the unity itattests to—is the markChrist gave Christians towear before the world.Only with thismarkmaythe world know thatChristians are indeedChristians and that JesuswassentbytheFather.

LAMENT

Weep,weepforthose

WhodotheworkoftheLord

withahighlook

Andaproudheart.

Theirvoiceisliftedup

In the streets, and their cry isheard.

Thebruisedreedtheybreak

By their great strength, and thesmokingflax

Theytrample.

Weep not for the quenched (Fortheir God will hear their cry Andthe Lordwill come to save them)Butweep,weepforthequenchers

ForwhentheDayoftheLord

Iscome,andthevalessing

Andthehillsclaptheirhands

Andthelightshines

Thentheireyesshallbeopened

Onawasteplace,

Smouldering,

Thesmokeoftheflaxbitter

Intheirnostrils,

Theirfeetpierced

Bybrokenreed-stems...

Wood,hay,andstubble,

Andnograssspringing,

Andallthebirdsflown.

Weep, weep for those Who havemade a desert In the name of theLord.-EvangelinePaterson

TableofContents

IntroductionMenandBrothersADelicateBalanceForTrueChristiansOnlyTheStandardofQualityFailureinLoveTheFinalApologeticHonest Answers,

ObservableLoveFalseNotionsofUnityTrueOnenessVisibleLoveForgivenessWhenChristiansDisagreeRegretCostlyLoveThe Difference of

DifferencesLoveinPracticeDividedButOne

TheOneTrueMarkLAMENT