One Another

You cannot follow Jesus alone. He did not design it that way.

On His last night, Jesus gave one new command. Not a suggestion for the sociable — a command, and the identifying mark of the whole thing.

Scripture — John 13:34–35 (OTB)

“A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. It is by this, therefore, that everyone will know you are My disciples: that you have love for one another.”

Jesus had already commanded love for God and love for neighbour. This is narrower and it is new: love these people, the ones following alongside you. The world’s evidence for Jesus was never meant to be our arguments. It was meant to be that.

Notice what this is not. It is not a chapter about being a useful member of an organisation — turning up, filling a slot, being counted. The first Christians were not a programme. Look at what Luke records about people who had been believers for a matter of days:

Scripture — Acts 2:42, 44–46 (OTB)

“They committed themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. … All the believers were together and shared everything in common. They sold their property and possessions to provide for anyone who was in need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They shared meals in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.”

Devoted to the Word. Together. Meals in houses. Property sold when somebody needed something. Those are brand-new believers, not a mature church — which tells you this is basic equipment, not an advanced module.

So what does loving these people actually consist of? Time with them. Sacrifice for them. Help when they are in trouble. Encouragement. Correction when it is needed. And being listened to, which requires letting yourself be known — the part most of us skip. John is blunt: if you have what someone needs and you see their need and do nothing, ask yourself what your love amounts to.

A word on church, since this is where it usually comes up. We never treat an invitation to a service as the same thing as telling somebody about Jesus — it isn’t, and the substitution is a bad habit. But a person who has come to faith and wants to belong to a local church should not be kept waiting on anybody’s process. The Word comes first; the body comes fast. What this chapter is asking for is not attendance. It is a handful of named people who know the truth about you.

Recite it: You cannot follow Jesus alone. He did not design it that way.

Reflect & do

Name the people who would notice if you quietly disappeared for a month. If the list is thin, that is the finding. Do one thing this week to make it less thin — and be specific about who and when.