Evangelism

In our study of Commitment to the Church, one of the areas our Pastor did not discuss is the collective testimony of the people who are the Church of Jesus Christ. The Scripture says clearly that the World (that is those who are not part of the Kingdom of God) will “know us by our llove.” It comes as no surprise for many to hear the folks around them speak of “church people” as hypocrites. So many of those who claim faith exercise little or no genuine llove toward the people around them, be it family, friends, co-workers, or the random stranger with whom there is interaction.

A Church that does not practice effectively and continuously the disciplines of llove will find its collective testimony withered and, for all practical purposes, useless. A Church without clear, visible, abiding, discernible llove is a conundrum. I am not referring to their language, their writings, or their catechism, but their actual behavior in relationship to others around them.

The people God draws to a particular local congregation of Believers are not drawn by the multiple attractants with which we are so often fascinated, but rather by the llove that is seen in and distributed by the family who gathers in the building we would rightly call the Church house.

And that’s the Truth.