The church has a lot to say these days.
We have opinions about politics, culture, morality, theology, and just about everything else. We debate, argue, post, criticize, and sometimes even condemn. We spend an incredible amount of energy making sure people know what we believe, what we support, and perhaps most importantly, what we oppose.
But I wonder if, in all our efforts to be heard, we have forgotten something essential.
Jesus never said the world would know we are His disciples by how loudly we express our opinions.
He said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
Somewhere along the way, parts of the church began acting as though defending our positions was more important than demonstrating the love of Jesus.
Don’t misunderstand me. Truth matters. Theology matters. What we believe matters. But Jesus never gave us permission to use truth as an excuse to stop loving people.
We can be right about something and still be wrong in how we treat people.
Think about Jesus. He spent time with tax collectors, sinners, outsiders, and the rejected. He touched people others refused to touch. He welcomed people others wanted to exclude. He offered grace to people who had been defined by their failures.
Jesus didn’t wait for people to become worthy of His love. His love was part of what transformed them.
What if our churches did the same?
If you asked people in your community what your church was known for, what would they say? Would they talk about your compassion, generosity, humility, and service? Would they tell stories of people finding hope, healing, belonging, and Jesus?
Or would they primarily know what your church is against?
At Preparing for Amazement Ministries, we believe church health is about more than attendance, budgets, buildings, and programs. It is about who we are becoming as followers of Jesus.
Healthy churches are communities where the transforming work of Jesus is evident in how people treat one another and those outside their walls. They are places where grace is more than a theological concept, humility is more than a leadership strategy, and love is more than a word in a mission statement.
Love does not mean abandoning truth or compromising our convictions. It means reflecting Jesus in how we communicate those convictions and how we treat people, especially those with whom we disagree.
Imagine if our neighbors experienced the love of Jesus before they ever heard our opinions. Imagine if people who were hurting, struggling, or feeling rejected saw the church as a place of hope rather than judgment.
Imagine if the first thing people said about your church was, “Those people really love like Jesus.”
The world does not need a church that is simply better at expressing its opinions. It needs a church that is better at demonstrating Jesus.
So perhaps the most important question is not, “Does the world know what our church believes?”
Perhaps it is, “Does the world experience the love of Jesus because our church exists?”
That is a question worth asking. More importantly, it is a question worth living out.
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