They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love: Striving for Unity

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Jesus Christ, John 13:34-35

The 1960s were turbulent times. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Racial tensions were high. Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968. Protests abounded regarding the Vietnam War, a devastating war which extended into the following decade. Many longed for peace, while others took the law (or their warped view of it) into their own hands. In alliance with Russia, Cuba threatened the US with ballistic missiles. The Cold War raged, and would continue until 1991. There was so much more that happened in that decade. 

It was during this time that the Catholic Church held the Second Vatican Council, from 1962 to 1965. Pope John XXIII called it to consider updates to the Church in response to an increasingly secularized world. How could they best reach out to a changing and very turbulent world in need of a Savior? Among many subjects they discussed and conclusions they drew, one of them was that "The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council." This reversed a previous position, where they were less accepting of non-Catholic Christians.

Photo by New Africa on Adobe Stock

It was following the Second Vatican Council that Catholic priest Peter Scholtes, who served at Chicago's St. Brendan's Parish, needed a song for his youth choir to sing for a series of ecumenical and interracial events in 1966. With people of multiple denominations and races joining together, this song needed to address unity among Christians, without regard to differences. His search came up empty. So the natural solution was to write one!

Inspired by John 13:35 (above), Scholtes wrote:

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord;
We are one int he Spirit, we are one in the Lord;
And we pray that all unity will one day be restored.

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand;
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand;
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land.

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will work with each other, we will work side by side;
We will work with each other, we will work side by side;
And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride.

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.

All praise to the Father, from whom all things come;
And all praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son.
And all praise to the Spirit who makes us one.

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.

This also calls to mind the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, shortly before His crucifixion:

My prayer is not for [the disciples] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

John 17:20-23

Since the 1960s, the world has changed. You can see my "Days of Yore" series the past couple months to see some of the ways, but there have also been social and political changes. While integration has come a long way since the 1960s, we have so far yet to go. Many white people claiming to be Christian see someone with a different skin color, wearing a hoodie, or in some other (usually illogical) way "looking threatening," and rather than reach out and help, or mind their own business, decide to pull out a gun. Or they may choose another way to harm or murder someone. Families have been ripped apart at our Southern border. So many names over the years have joined the list of people being killed for their race, sexual orientation, and other reasons (many, though not all, by people claiming to be Christians). Breonna Taylor. Matthew Shepard. Elijah McClain. George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Atatiana Jefferson. Stephon Clark. Charleena Lyles. Philando Castile. Pulse Nightclub. The January 6 insurrection. Charlottesville. Tree of Life Synagogue. Victims of multiple forms of bullying driven to suicide. Victims of egregious conspiracy theories. This barely scratches the surface. Is this the love and unity Jesus taught and commanded?

We are ONE. We are called to LOVE. As Christians, we can and MUST do better. We must work together to bring about unity.

I stand firmly in solidarity with my siblings of all shapes, sizes, colors and persuasions. We must love. Not kill. Love. Not rip families apart. Love. Not mock and jeer. Love. Not bully. Guard each person's dignity. Not tear it to shreds. We can disagree on things, but that doesn't let us off loving.

Let us pray and strive for unity! Christianity has gotten a bad name because far too many "Christians" have forgotten God's most important command: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself."

Another good one to remember: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Vatican_Council
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960s
https://pscholtes.com/obituary.htm
https://hymnary.org/person/Scholtes_P
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/history-of-hymns-theyll-know-we-are-christians-by-our-love
https://wordtoworship.com/song/14526

Who Knew?

I shared my memories of September 11, 2001 back in May, and now I thought I'd post this poem I wrote shortly after the horrible events of that fateful day.

Who Knew?

by Steven Sauke

© September 2001

It began as a peaceful Tuesday morning
The sun shone, the birds chirped
Who knew what was about to happen?
Who knew the peace would be shattered?
That planes would crash into buildings?
That thousands of lives would suddenly be cut short?
That fireballs so huge could billow out of national landmarks?
Who foresaw bodies falling 110 stories to the ground?
The World Trade Center plummeting after them?
The Pentagon in flames?
Smoke billowing into the sky,
Blotting out the sun,
Turning the bright blue sky a dismal gray?
Dust blanketing a city in a velvety, macabre coat?
Who could have known on such a bright sunny day
That in a few minutes a nation would be in shock?
That a planet would be in grief?
That in 225 years the US had never seen such a disaster
As what was about to happen?

Who would have guessed that in one morning,
A sharply divided nation would come together
To donate blood, to pick up the pieces, to pray for our fellow Americans?

Who could have known that in one morning,
A nation, an earth, would forever be changed?

Who foresaw an outpouring of grief,
Of sorrow,
Of love,
Of flowers,
Of candles,
Of silence,
Across the nation,
Across the earth?
Who knew flags across the world
Would soon be placed at half-mast?

Only God knew
And He held up the towers for an hour
To let people escape

Only God knew
And He caused the planes to hit the towers high enough
That they collapsed straight down
Rather than falling over
And wiping out more of Manhattan

Only God knew
And He diverted a plane away from the White House
Into the only part of the Pentagon
That had been retrofitted
For terrorist attacks

Only God knew
And He stopped in mid-flight
Another plane headed for the White House
Sending it crashing
Into a field.

Praise be to God
For sparing us from something worse
Praise be to God!