By this we are known.

John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

I once had someone tell me that they didn't have a problem with God, or Jesus, or the Bible; they had a problem with organized religion....the church. How heartbreaking!  The body of Christ, the church, is a beautiful picture of Christ to the world.  But, Scripture doesn't say that the world will know us by how we treat them, or how we meet their needs, but how we love one another. This doesn't mean we aren't to meet the needs of the world around us (Luke 10:27-37, the story of the good Samaritan); but Scripture is clear that the way the world will see the love of Christ for them is to see His love in action within His church.

My family and I are currently in language school in Costa Rica, and what I've seen take place over the past year among our student body is what I've imagined the body of Christ should be to one another. It has been a beautiful picture of what the Church should look like...

We have borne one another's burdens (Galatians 6:1-3)

I have used this verse in the past to discuss bearing one another's frustrations or trials and meeting one another's needs.  We hurt when they hurt, grieve when they grieve, and rejoice when they rejoice. All of those things are true; but this verse is actually discussing when one of our brothers falls, we are to restore them into the spirit of meekness.  During my time in language school, there are times when I've both hurt someone else or been hurt by someone else.  One of those times, I called another classmate crying and truly hurt/humiliated.  I'll be honest, I was mad.  And, instead of my classmate encouraging me to remain in my state of anger, she prayed over me, then exhorted me.  She reminded me of how God uses all things for our good and His glory; how some people mean things for harm, yet God means it for good; and how this person probably never meant to intentionally hurt me so I need to forgive and allow God to work this out for my spiritual growth in Him.  I may not have wanted to hear it, but I needed to hear it.  We are to lovingly exhort one another with the purpose of drawing one another closer to the heart of God.

We have allowed love to cover a multitude of sins (Proverbs 10:12)

Because we have such a close relationship and we see each other every day, we have seen the best and the worst in one another.  We accidentally snap at people, or we are just in a snippy mood because we didn't sleep the night before or we are stressed because of an upcoming test.  We poke fun of someone who just "gets it" so we can feel better that it is taking us a little longer.  The thing is, though, that we don't allow those petty, frustrating moments break a bond that is greater than any family ties.  Because of our love for God, we have a love for one another that allows us to look beyond those aggravating faults of one another and see one another's heart for our Savior.

We have prayed for one another (James 5:16)

We start every class with prayer.  We pray for our teachers, one another, our administration, our school.  We pray for our community here in Costa Rica and for the countries to which we are going.  (We have especially been praying for Nicaragua lately...)  We've had prayer walks around our campus where we've been able to pray in specific ways for our teachers, our missionary kids, and the other students on our campus.  We've also prayed for our school--for God to send missionaries to our school and to Latin America.  We pray for unity among the body of Christ.  We worship with one another and come together to study His Word.  And, we also pray for what life will be like when we leave this bubble we call language school and head out to our respective places of service and no longer have the community we have here, one we do not take for granted.

We have met one another's needs (James 2:14-18)

Children have had broken bones, urgent hospital runs, and hard days as MKs.  We adults have had surgeries, crazy and weird medical situations, hospital stays, falls, and hurting hearts.  There hasn't been one time that someone hasn't made a need known that it hasn't been met.  We have watched kids, taken meals to each other's houses, and held a girl's night at someone's house who had surgery.  We have cried with another and prayed over one another and met the needs of one another in tangible ways.

We are of one body (Acts 2:44; I Peter 3:8-9)

Our student body gathered recently and discussed this sense of community and why it's such a blessing to us.  We also discussed the things we could do better.  One student pointed out that the reason we can have the bond that we have is because we have the understanding that we serve the same God and have the same calling.  We may have different preferences on music, dress, or what we may/may not allow our kids to do; but we have the same mission: to love the Lord God with all of our hearts, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to spread the Gospel to the nation to which God has called us.  The Holy Spirit creates a bond that cannot be broken, if we keep our eyes and hearts focused on Him.

I don't share these things to boast about all the things we've done right or how we are a "perfect" group of people.  I share these things because God has used these things to both bless me and convict me.  It has blessed me to see the body of Christ coming together as one true body.  But, it has also convicted me to love my fellow believers back home and the people to whom I'm going to go minister the way I've loved and been loved during my time here.  I've been guilty far too often of allowing my own hurt or pride come between another believer and myself.  However, it is so important to treat my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ with the love God has for us.  Why?  Because the testimony of Christ's Church is at stake: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."