And they will tell we are Christians by....?

This past week i've been thinking a lot about what it means to live a Christian life in today's world. My reflection hasn't been caused by any major crisis or event but rather has been inspired by my wondering what to write about on this blog!

At any rate, here are two observations that i'd like to share. The first thing that has struck me this week is how some of the teachings i had as a child about the way Christians behave just aren't nearly as exclusive as i was initially led to believe. The hymn i recall is that "they'll know we are Christians by our love" just doesn't work for me if i assume that it means that non-Christians aren't nearly as loving. As i look around at all the good that is done for others and the charity work i see in my community, but also those who are willing to sacrifice for others in distant communities, i often see non-Christian or even non-religious drivers of good. Clearly good deeds are not limited to Christians and not all Christians seem devoted to doing good deeds or demonstrating love for others.

My second observation however is that there do appear to be a wide variety of different motivations for doing good. My liberal Christian friends cite social justice causes in the model of Jesus' caring for the outsider, the widow, the orphan. My conservative Christian friends cite scripture. My non-Christian and non-religious friends talk about our responsibility - to the world, to the future, to our neighbor. Different motivations to the same end. But if the end is the same, how will "they" know we are Christians? What distinguishes us? Is it even important to be able to tell who is who?

I think it probably is important to be able to identify who is who, but not for "them" - it is important for "us". I think it is important for the same reason it is important for us to claim as part of our identity our family, our race, our gender etc. Who we are directly influences how we view the world and how we behave in the world.

I also think it is important to be able to have a visible identity. For us to express who we are by what we do, not just what we privately believe or are willing to share secretly with others who agree with us.

But i think i would modify the song to say, "and they/we will know we are Christians by our faith" because the one thing that strikes me as a different is that Christian good works are undergirded by our faith and beliefs about what our God calls us to do and frankly, what the consequences will be of failing to live up to God's expectations to the best of our limited human abilities.

On our best days i think you can tell we are Christians because we put our faith into action.