By Our Love They Will Know Us

Even the earliest Bible writers knew about the dual nature of human beings and modern day scientists continue to confirm it. On the one hand we have an irresistible urge to care for one another. On the other, an equally irresistible urge to survive. These days, somehow, something appears to continually  trigger the defensive instincts more than the nurturing ones. It looks like people increasingly see the world as hostile. They are constantly in survival mode reacting to the world instead of enjoying life. They are concerned about jobs, grocery bills, war and the cost of housing. Many have lost faith that the government is capable of providing solutions, lost as it is in internal power struggles. And so it was in the time of Jesus.

Jesus saw that the state of affairs back then would only lead to more destruction and suffering. He didn’t get that out of thin air, though. No, he got it from the ancient scriptures. He understood that love, not power and dominance, is the secret ingredient for abundant life.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35

Clearly, the disciples struggled to understand what he was saying, but somehow, for a brief moment, the early church managed to create a place where a small group of people could live without fear, free from domination and power. “There was not a needy person among them,” writes Luke in (Acts 4:34).  

But that did not last long. Soon the church found itself mixed up with both internal and external power struggles. Some of the early church leaders withdrew to the desert and formed new communities there. While their voices were weak and small, their impact has been profound. Some of these early monastic orders are still around to this day. 

Today, we talk about them in terms of intentional communities, small groups of people trying to live the Way of Jesus. They think personal possessions, hierarchical governance and personal independence are obstacles, not the way, to abundant life. Our words may not be able to convince the world, but we hope our actions can. We hope intentional Christian communities make sense to an increasingly lost and rootless generation of young people.

In our new world, we realize that cooperation is better than competition. We can do more together than we can apart. We depend on each other so we care for each other. We do not claim our possessions as our own. Everything belongs to God. Our leaders are servants, not rulers.