They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love

AM Psalm 107:33-43, 108:1-6(7-13) • PM Psalm 33
Gen. 35:1-20 • 1 John 3:11-18 • John 11:1-16

I was born in 1952, so I have no memories of the time in the decade before my birth when citizens around the world felt compelled to express, vividly and passionately, their hate for a political/military leader. And while I know that, throughout my lifetime, there have been figures or actions that have thoroughly animated the public animus, it strikes me that we are living now in an era when human hatefulness is nearing its zenith.

I don’t want to downplay how hate, hate crimes, and hate groups have infected our world during the past half century. In U.S. law, hate crimes were originally recognized in the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which made it illegal to commit a crime based on the victim’s race, religion, or national origin. (Although, sadly, crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability were not recognized as hate crimes until 2009.) The 1990 Hate Crimes Statistics Act required the FBI not only to report hate crimes but also to classify them into victim groups.

So, where is hate in our culture today? In 2020, various politico/media talking heads asserted that the presidential election turned out as it did primarily because so many people “hated” the incumbent. In 2021, the FBI reported that the commission of hate crimes in the U.S. had reached its highest point in a dozen years.

Two thoughts occur to me as I ponder these points. First, the expression of hate strikes me as incredibly immature. When I hear someone say “I hate you” or “I hate so-and-so,” I generally envision youngsters on a grade school playground uttering sentiments that could change on a whim. Second, and more to the point of this reflection, adhering to and promoting hate runs thoroughly counter to the gospel in general and to Johannine epistle in today’s readings in particular. The epistoler offers the following: “Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”

Some readers might recognize the folk song/hymn referenced by the title of this reflection. “They’ll Know We Are Christians by our Love” was originally sung by the congregation of St. Brendan’s Church on the Southside of Chicago in the late 1960s. I read its lyrics as containing a call that we should embrace always, but particularly now.

Written by David Jolliffe

At St. Paul’s, David sings in the choir, assists with community meals, and helps to coordinate the Tippy McMichael Lecture Series.