What Do They Know?

I was on an atheist blog the other day, and I can only assume that what was written was meant to encourage those of a like mind and help them grow in their worldview.  It seemed like a harmless enough article: it was well written, it did not insult the intelligence of those who may have a different view, and the author in no way tried to exalt himself or his opinion above the reader.  So what was the issue with it?  The comments.

I try to tell myself time and again that I will not read the reader comments below any blogs or articles I read online because I know it is very likely to upset me.  Yet I do it.  I guess I am a glutton for punishment...

You should have seen what was being said!  The author was accused of misunderstanding the true atheist worldview, was insulted, and was even called names.  Then, the commenters were arguing among themselves.  This guy said what that said was wrong, and felt obligated to correct him.  Then that guy came back with a response meant to show how unintelligent the other was. 

There were plenty of people taking sides, though it appeared to be much more than just two differing opinions being argued.  There were about ten different views, all claiming to be right and the other nine wrong.  In the end, it spiraled into insults and name calling, and even accusations that those who disagreed with this or that particular point could not even rightly be called atheists.  There was even a veiled threat or two, if you can believe it.

OK, that actually never happened.  Well, the part about the commenters did, but I was not really on an atheist blog.  I WAS ON A CHRISTIAN BLOG!!!!!

Now, I would gladly tell you all the things that these people said and how wrong they were, but I just noticed some wood in my eye...

Jesus told us that people would know we are His disciples by our love for one another.  Well, the world is watching.  What do they know?  Is it possible for them to know the love of God that we want to show them when we don't show it to each other?

Please know that I do not intend to say that all Christians do this.  I recognize that there are plenty of humble Christians who do show genuine love for their brothers.  I see that.  But the question is, what does the world see?  People who are more interested in proving our "version" of Christianity is right than we are loving each other?  People who are unwilling to have a teachable spirit and consider that maybe, just maybe, we don't know it all, we don't believe all the right doctrine, and what we consider so important may, in fact, be a secondary issue as far as God is concerned?

Jason Helopoulos said this in a blog this week:

Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Loving one another in the body of Christ has many benefits. Two that regularly come to mind are the glory it gives to God and the way it affects the church. However, one of the primary benefits of loving one another is what it declares before a watching world. One of our most potent instruments we have for effective evangelism is Christians loving each other well.

(You can read his whole post here, and I highly suggest that you do.  Don't worry; it's short.  Just avoid the reader comments...)

I want to encourage you to consider that when we are divided over differences of opinion, we make the divide between the unsaved and God even greater.  I want to encourage you to consider that when we don't show love to each other while discussing issues, the divide between the unsaved and their knowledge of the love of God gets wider.  Now I want to encourage you to consider this: there are legitimate reasons to be divided, to be sure, but never a legitimate reason not to show love to each other. 

We want the whole world to know God.  That can only happen through His church.  But when they see us, what do they know?