Known by Agape

In my last two postings I mentioned that in the teaching about agape in the Gospel of John, we are told that everyone will know the followers of Jesus by agape. That is the great challenge from our Master -- that using the power of agape is the way everyone will know who are the followers of Jesus Christ (John 13:35). 

So today, when we continue following in that tradition established by Jesus and spread abroad by Paul, we take to heart that prediction. But what does that mean -- for people to know the followers of the Christ by the actions of living by the power of spiritual agape, and then sharing agape with each other and also allowing the Holy Spirit to extend agape through concrete actions out to others?

In order for us to be true Christians, agape must be seen through our actions. That’s the whole story today. Agape can become like a radiating energy, spreading out from Christian groups to the world around them. And that’s our challenge -- from the very beginning. So the Christian influence to change the world is known through the evidence of agape. That’s it! That’s what changes the world, because that’s how the power of God works.

And yet… and yet…

...most Christians don’t know what agape is. Those few aware Christians, who have at least heard the word, think it has something to do with love, but they know it can’t be what they normally think love is. But they’re not sure what else agape can be. Even they just don’t know what agape is.

So we have this strange condition in the 21st Century: what the world is supposed to know Christians by is unknown to almost all Christians. How pathetic is that?

We have the ancient challenge from Jesus Christ. And it was meant to be the very thing that defines the mission of our whole enterprise. And yet …

...how can we even begin to know how to start to meet that challenge and proceed with our mission …

… if we don’t even know what the main word is that defines our mission?

So the most important investigation we must complete in order to move forward in the 21st Century is to rediscover what agape is. And we have been held back in our prime investigation by weak translations for 600 years. We can no longer rely on translations of the New Testament. It is of utmost importance that, as quickly as possible, we have to discover through deep prayer -- opening up to the power of God -- what God is giving us in agape.

Then of course, we are challenged by Christ to let that spiritual power of agape work through us.