A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
When asked if they are going to heaven, many will reference the 10 Commandments, saying they keep them. Perhaps they should read them before making such a pronouncement. No lying or coveting? They are far better than me. Of course, there are more commandments in the Old Testament. Love the Lord your God is one. Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus himself gave this last one in Matthew 22 as the Great Commandment. Author Dave Greber wrote a book called The Lost Commandment that calls this new commandant of Jesus one of the most neglected commands we have received. Everyone knows the 10 but if we asked what the “new” commandment is, we will be faced with blank stares.
Chances are that if the bulk of the church has failed to remember this commandment, they have also failed to keep that one too. Which begs the famous question God could ask. “Why again should I let you into heaven? Jesus is the head of his church and we spend half our time at each other’s throats instead of serving the head. We have our anatomy messed up. No wonder the world does not know we follow Jesus. We do not look or act like him.
No one should be surprised to hear you are a Christian. They should say, “I thought so.” If not, we need a reminder of what Jesus has taught and commanded. The world will not know what Jesus expects…
If we don’t know.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church