Love: the defining mark of a disciple

Love: the defining mark of a disciple

What is it about an individual that indicates that he or she is a follower of Jesus Christ?  How can somebody tell that a believer is a believer?  What is the defining mark of a Christian?

• A bumper sticker that says got Jesus?
• A silver fish on the back of your car?
• A cross necklace?
• Going to church every Sunday or Wednesday?
• T-shirt that you bought at Family Christian Store?

What is the defining mark of a Christian?

I submit to you that the defining mark of a Christian is love.  Humble, servant-love should characterize those who belong to Jesus Christ.

Love is not just A mark of a Christian, but rather, it is THE mark of a Christian.  Don’t misunderstand me; love is not the only mark of a Christian.  While there are a number of virtues that should mark a believer, such as joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, etc, the over-arching, primary and preeminent character trait of a believer is love.

John 13:34-35  ³⁴"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Again, Jesus tells his disciples that the world will know that they are his disciples if they love one another.  I believe this is a timeless truth: Love is the defining mark of a Christian.

I believe that is clear from John 13:34-35, which I just shared with you and I believe that is the testimony of the whole of Scripture.  Since we are dealing with this text in particular today I want to develop this teaching in light of the context of this text.  

Let’s take a look at what happens in the moments just before Jesus says this.  Turn with me to Luke 22.  Luke records something for us that John does not.

Luke 22:14-30 ¹⁴When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God." (Passover meal: last supper)

 ¹⁷After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." 

 ¹⁹And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." 

 ²⁰In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. ²¹But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. ²²The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him." ²³They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. 

 ²⁴Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.  Who amongst us is the greatest?  Peter?  John?  James?  Matthew?  Why?

Men are wired this way: competition.  This is why there’s boxing and UFC.  This is even why there’s tennis and golf.  Men seek to be great.  They compete for the position of “the greatest.”  This is why the Olympics exist.  This is why there is a gold medal.  Nobody says I want the bronze.  They compete for the gold, because the gold represents #1.  By nature, man looks out for #1 and seeks to be #1.

²⁵Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.  Jesus said, that’s how the pagans act.  The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them – they exercise their authority in such a way as to convey that they are better than others and attempt to make it clear that they have the right to tell them what to do.  They go to great lengths to display the power of their position.  They exalt themselves.

²⁶But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. Jesus said but you are not to be like that.  Instead, the greatest should be like the youngest and the one who rules like one who serves.  Out there, in the world, outside of the kingdom, the rulers are: 

• overbearing
• domineering
• self-centered
• self-exalting
• they lord it over others

You aren’t to be like that.  In your greatness, serve others.  Don’t make others serve you.  Don’t go to great lengths to assert your position over others.  Go to great lengths to humble yourselves and make it as if your position was no greater than theirs.

The world exalts self.  Sons of the kingdom humble themselves and serve.

²⁷For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table?   The one who is at the table is greater.  He is being served by the lesser.  The lesser serves the greater.  That is the natural order of things.

But I am among you as one who serves.  Jesus is saying, “Isn’t it clear that I am the greatest?  Do I need to do anything to prove my greatness?  As the king of kings and the lord of lords do I need to make my position of authority known by lording it over you?  No.  In fact just the opposite: I am among you as one who serves.  Not one who is served, though I deserve to be served.  Though I am great and deserve to be served, I serve.” Jesus says.

²⁸You are those who have stood by me in my trials. ²⁹And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, My Father has given me a kingdom and authority.  I give you a kingdom and authority.  Though you have a position of authority in the kingdom, don’t lord it over others.  

I am the King in the kingdom and I am serving.  In the same way you, though you have authority in the kingdom, should serve.  Don’t exalt yourself; humble yourself and serve.

²⁸You are those who have stood by me in my trials. ²⁹And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, ³⁰so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  Again, Jesus, here is showing that the apostles have a position of greatness in the kingdom:  so that you may eat and drink at my table…  Remember what Jesus said?  Who is greater, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves him?  Jesus is telling them that their place in the kingdom is at the table.  They have a position of greatness in the kingdom.  As those in a position of greatness, he tells them that though they deserve to be served, to serve.  Don’t exalt yourself and lord it over others.  Humble yourselves and serve others.

Turn with me to John 13…

John records a more in depth discourse at the Last Supper where Jesus expands on this idea of servanthood rather than lording one’s position over others.

John 13:1-35  ¹It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

 ²The evening meal was being served (same context here – John is giving us a different camera angle) and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. ³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 

Jesus, the greatest among them (He had come from God), was serving them in humility.  He was taking on the task of a humble servant.  He was doing that which was unheard of.  The king is supposed to get his feet washed by the servant, and yet, here we have the king serving the others, washing their feet.  This is bizarre.  Remember the natural order of things: the greater is served by the lesser – the lesser is supposed to serve the greater.  Here, Jesus, the greater is serving the lesser!!!  What is going on here???

 ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 

 ⁷Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 

 ⁸"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
      Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." 

 ⁹"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" 

 ¹⁰Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." ¹¹For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 

 ¹²When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. ¹³"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 

Jesus does not deny who he is and what his role is.  He affirms them.  I am your teacher and your Lord, but once again, Jesus doesn’t lord that over them.  Jesus verbally acknowledges his position of authority – I am teacher and Lord, but in the midst of that declaration, humbly served them.  Actions speak louder than words.  Jesus’ actions didn’t communicate pride but humility.  Jesus actions did not communicate the need to make a strong case for his position.  

• He IS the Son of God.  
• He IS the Messiah.  

He doesn’t need to do anything to prove it.  He is secure in his position and in his security, he is free to serve.

¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, (now that I, the greater, have served the lesser) you also should wash one another's feet. NOT LITERALLY.  This wasn’t the official command for foot washing.  This was the official command to serve in humility.

¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Jesus told his disciples that he humbled himself and served them.  He said that they, therefore, should humble themselves and served one another.  

¹⁶I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Your humility and service won’t change your position.  It won’t make you any less.  For Jesus to humble himself and wash their feet didn’t make him less than them, it didn’t make him any less the son of God, creator, king.  Jesus, by serving Peter, did not become less than Peter.  Jesus is still Peter’s master.

¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.  Now you know –It doesn’t do any good just to know something.  It only matters if you put that knowledge to action.  

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.  And he tells them you will be blessed if you do them.  It will actually end up being a blessing to you to serve your brothers in humility.  There’s a little bit of motivation.  The things that typically motivate us are love, fear or reward.  Here is a reward.  You will be blessed to serve.  The word blessed means fortunate or happy.  It will make you happy to serve others; it will be a blessing to you.

So can I as your pastor come up here and guilt you into serving?  Well, I guess I could but what good would that do?  In the end, even if I could guilt you into serving how long would it last?  People do what they want to do.  You need a change of mind, a change in nature.  God must change your heart and move you to want to live a life of love manifest in humble service.

Love is the defining mark of a Christian.   Love one another as I have loved you, Jesus says.  How did he love them?  Humble service.  Our love should be manifested in humble service.  But our humble service must be motivated by love.  And our love should be manifested in humble service.  But our humble service must be motivated by love.  And our love should be manifested in humble service.  But our humble service must be motivated by love. This is a beautiful cycle.

 ¹⁸"I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.' 

 ¹⁹"I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. ²⁰I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me." 

 ²¹After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me." 

 ²²His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. ²³One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. ²⁴Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means." 

 ²⁵Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" 

 ²⁶Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. ²⁷As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. 

   "What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him, ²⁸but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor. ³⁰As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night. 

Jesus bent down kneeled before every disciple including Judas.  Think about that for a minute.  Jesus humbly served the man who he knew was about to betray him.  WOW.  What an example to us.

 ³¹When he was gone, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. ³²If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. 

 ³³"My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 

 ³⁴"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Back to where we started but we have the context of the conversation on greatness and the example of foot-washing, so we see exactly HOW Jesus loved them.   A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  How?  Humble service.  Washing feet – greater serving the lesser.

THIS TYPE OF HUMBLE SERVICE CAN ONLY BE RENDERED WHEN SOMEONE IS COMFORTABLE WITH AND CONVINCED OF WHO THEY ARE POSITIONALY.

There was no question in Jesus’ mind about his worth, his position, his relationship with the Father, his value, his place.  Jesus knew exactly who he was, what he came to do and what was about to happen.  He had been rejected by the religious leaders who said that he drove out demons by the prince of demons, that he was a blasphemer deserving of death.  The words of men and their treatment of Him did not affect what he knew to be true.  He was the divine Son of God, the Messiah, the anointed one who belonged to God, who came from God to redeem the elect and purchase them with His blood.  He knew he came from God and was going to return to God once He was beaten and crucified.  He knew who he was and neither the circumstances up to the last supper nor what was to come after the meal were going to change that.  Jesus had security and confidence in who he was.  That empowered him to assume a lowly role.

For example, I am confident in who I am as a man.  I don’t need to do anything to prove to anybody that I’m a man.  I just am and I KNOW I am.  Thus, I can carry my daughter’s pink blanky around without wondering if people are going to think I’m girly.  I could carry my wife’s purse when she used a purse.  I can carry her purple pocketbook.  Because of the fact that I am confident in my manhood, I have no fear.  I am secure.  In my security I am free to do things that might not seem congruent with my identity.   In my manhood I can hold a girly blanky.

In the same way, Jesus Christ is King.  He is confident in who he is as king of kings and lord of lords.  He doesn’t need to prove to anybody that He is King.  He just is and he KNOWS he is.  Thus, he can serve without fear.  In his security, he is free to do things that might not seem congruent with his identity.  He is the greater who deserves to be served, but he served.

THIS TYPE OF HUMBLE SERVICE CAN ONLY BE RENDERED WHEN SOMEONE IS COMFORTABLE WITH AND CONVINCED OF WHO THEY ARE POSITIONALY.

IN THIS SECURITY, THERE IS THE FREEDOM AND POWER TO SERVE HUMBLY.

After washing the feet of His disciples, the greater serving the lesser, He told them I have given you an example.  I have loved you in humble service.  ³⁴"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Love is the defining mark of a Christian.

HOW DO WE WALK AWAY DIFFERENT AFTER THIS MORNING?

Hopefully we find ourselves motivated to love one another more and express that love in humble service toward one another.  

How that works out for each of us is going to be different because we are all in different walks of life.

Let’s be secure in our position as children of God.  We are children of God.  We are sons of the kingdom.  We call God Abba, Father.  Is that not a position of greatness???  In all reality, as children of God we are somebody special, we have a position of greatness in this universe.  Let’s be secure in our position as children of God, let’s be comfortable with and convinced of who we are positionally and that will enable us to serve in humility.

I will say this: humble service requires self-sacrifice.  It requires in some sense to die to self.

In all relationships there is a destructive attitude that dwells on one’s own needs.  It is the self-pitying mindset that says my needs are not being met and I am putting more into this relationship than they are.

Let’s die to self and serve others in humility as a manifestation of our love.

Love is the defining mark of a Christian.  ³⁴"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

This is how the world will know that you belong to Jesus: your love for one another.  

Not: 

• a Christian t-shirt
• because you have mercy me on your iPod instead of guns n roses
• because of a fish on your car.  

The defining mark of a Christian is love.  

Let’s show the world our Jesus.  Let’s show them by our love for one another because that is how they will know that we belong to Jesus, if we love one another.