Reflection – Dr Nathan Leber

Will they know we are Christians?

If someone unknowingly watched you in the way you go about your day, would they know you were a Christian? When we are in mass, it is obvious, but when we are in our normal environment, carrying out our daily activities, interacting with others, does our love shine through? I would dare say that every day we are faced with the dilemma of what it means to do the right thing.

I might challenge this thought and query whether this is the right question at all. Should I not be asking, “What kind of person should I be?” or better still, “What would the best version of me do at this moment?” We are all made in the image and likeness of God and this means inherently, we understand what our best version, our created purpose. In the Gospels, Jesus teaches us that we should love one another as He has loved us. Now, theologically this is a big ask. If God is love (as John tells us), and Jesus is the second part of the trinity, then it stands to reason that His love for us is the love which is God’s very existence.

A spontaneous, unmotivated, selfless, covenantal love for those who are essentially undeserving – and still yet we receive it. Love is the key to the ‘new world’ of Revelations. We are called to such great things, but it is an invitation not a command, a reminder not a threat that we are faced with. Every action we do, no matter how mundane, should reflect the dignity with have been given by God. Our lives should be one conducted in collaboration and cooperation with God – an indication of what God has done with us (as Paul and Barnabas would say). The divine covenant is simple – He will be our God and we will be His people. In accepting this, and through the fulfilment of this covenant through the incarnation of Christ, God dwells with us, and we, in turn, through our communal life with our God, become like temples, the place in which God dwells (1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Pet. 2: 4-6). Love is our mark.

We are all capable of such greatness but also of such triviality. Thankfully though, this is indicative not of our character but of how we choose to act in the moment. So, next time you find yourself bogged down in pettiness or reacting to inconsequential moments (and aren’t most of them if we really look at them), stop yourself and ask, “what kind of person do I want to be? Do I want to turn away from the new commandment of a love without reserve, a love that took our Lord and Saviour to the cross for us despite our unworthiness, or do I want to reflect the dignity of God in the world?” Let show everyone why we are called followers of Christ?    

Dr Nathan Leber