Evangelism as a Community

Bible Passage: John 13:34-35

These verses record some of the words that Jesus spoke to his disciples on the night before he was crucified. They had just shared the last supper together, and prior to eating they had experienced Jesus washing their feet in an act of servant love. In the dialogue after dinner, Jesus helps them reflect on how what he has done is a model for how they can love one another. In these verses, Jesus points out the evangelistic impact of a community of disciples showing love for one another.

A Command to Love: Jesus frames his instruction to his disciples as a ‘new command’. This is a reference back to the Old Testament, where God made his covenant with Moses, and as part of it he gave the Ten Commandments to show what it would look like for Israel to live distinctively as his people. In a similar way, Jesus has made the new covenant with his blood, and along with this he gives a command that will set apart his people as distinct. This is given as just a singular command, and it is love for each other. Whilst it is true that love was also part of the Old Testament calling, Jesus is emphasising here that love is the thing that should primarily mark our Christian communities, and this should be stand out and be evident to anybody who is looking on.

An Example of Love: Jesus does not only tell his disciples to love, but he goes first and models it himself. The love that Christians are to have for one another is ‘as I have loved you’. In its immediate context, this is a reference to how Jesus took the lowest place and washed their feet. Choosing the path of servanthood and preferring the needs of others over our own is the shape of Christian love, and it stands in contrast to selfish backbiting or competing for position. But the example of Jesus is not only limited to washing their feet, but also has in mind the cross. The most powerful example of Jesus loving us is that he gave himself up to die in our place and for our sins. As we seek to live according to the model of Jesus’ own love, then taking up our cross is part of this, and being ready to lay ourselves down and sacrifice for others is the distinctive kind of love that we are being led into. The love of Jesus is sacrificing, initiative, and undeserved, and love of Christians for one another and for the lost is to follow this same pattern.

The Impact of Love: Love is a powerful and good thing in its own right. But as Jesus teaches his disciples to live this way, he is also aware of the power that a loving community can have on those around it. As people who do not know God catch a glimpse of the church community in action, this should reveal something to them about what God’s love is like. They will see that the message of God’s love is not only words but has transformative power to create a new kind of community. This is why introducing non-Christians to other believing friends, or bringing them along to church gatherings is one of our most effective evangelistic strategies: it means they get to see how God is working in a whole host of different people, and they will see and experience the love of God through the loving relationships between people. We know that no community is perfect, and that sometimes the way God’s love is shown is through bearing with on another in patience, and being ready to say sorry and to forgive. Despite this, our evangelism works best when we do it together as a community, and that community is an attractive beacon that shines out the love of God to others around.

Potential Applications:

• Invite people to think about whether there are Christian and non-Christian friends they can introduce to each other?
• The passage is a clear call to demonstrate the kind of love that Jesus is talking about in our own lives.
• You could use the opportunity to invite those who have seen God’s love through the Christian community to respond and receive Jesus for themselves.