WILL THEY KNOW?

WILL THEY KNOW?

“They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love.

Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” (Christian Hymn)

            It isn’t unusual for people to compartmentalize the various parts of their lives.  For, example, many people try to leave their work at work so that they can give all their attention to their home life.  That’s a good idea and, though often difficult to achieve all of the time, still it’s worth the effort.  Where that sort of division is not a good idea is in our spiritual life.  The part of our lives, which has to do with our relationship with God and through that with the rest of the human race, must not be compartmentalized or else it will break. Jesus roundly criticized those who did this.  He abhorred hypocrisy.  He called the Pharisees and moneychangers whited sepulchers and a brood of vipers!

            Jesus said: “ No one can serve two masters.”  (Matt 6: 24) You can’t keep a balance between spiritual and temporal because they are not equal. The spiritual is the driving force behind the life of a follower of Christ.  Everything has to been seen through that perspective.  When your life in Christ is the strongest part of you and gives you the greatest joy, it will be the last thing you would relinquish.  It is that which gives martyrs courage. 

            Once you have established Christ as the center of your life, all decision- making is based on His teachings of love.  The earliest Christians were so in love with Jesus’ message that they gave up their individuality and lived in community, sharing everything and living to care for everyone.  “Look at those Christians, see how they love one another” was a common cry among those who first observed them.  But even among them the simplicity of Christ’s command to love one another was misinterpreted.  Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan and his healings of people body and soul without regard to their families or tribes or origins were ignored in favor of long held prejudice.  Nothing much has changed.  Some groups never see the hypocrisy of mounting protests against other people while they carry a sign proclaiming their Christianity.  But even in less obvious ways, we judge, discriminate, find reasons to deny basic rights and never ever look for humane solutions but instead go immediately to prohibition.  We have to do better.  We must listen to Christ’s simple and uncomplicated words and resolve to live them if we want the words of the hymn to apply to us. 

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA