[Article] Christianity is about love

When Christ took the loaves of bread and fishes from the poor boy, he multiplied it to feed the entire congregation, so everybody went home satisfied after meeting Jesus Christ. The boy got far more than he offered. Nobody went home hungry.

In the very early days of the Church in Antioch as captured in the Book of Acts of the Apostles of the Christian New Testament Bible, the people of Antioch saw that poor people who joined the church immediately got support; the naked were clothed, the homeless, housed, and, the sick, taken care of.

In fact, it’s Apostle Paul who instituted collection aside the aged offerings to mobilise material support for needy believers.

But, today, there’s too much hunger, homelessness and deprivation in our churches even in abundance.

Too many people go to church and return home empty. The entertainment and motivational speeches and prophecies aren’t enough to nourish a perishing soul needing food, water, a sleeping place or work. Too many people don’t know those they sit by in their churches, yet, they’re supposed to be brethren fellowshiping together in the presence of their father who is in heaven.

Ye shall love one another and the world shall know that ye are my followers. These are the Lord’s own words. Loving one another is thus the only distinguishing character of followers of Jesus Christ.

He didn’t say that, “And, ye shall attend church every Sunday or Saturday and the world shall know that you’re my followers”. Note that I’m not saying going to church isn’t beneficial. In fact, the Scriptures say that don’t forsake the gathering of the brethren.

But, the purpose of going to church is to become more like Christ in your spiritual development to a point that the world could see Christ in you. What distinguishes Christ is his extraordinary love to even his enemies and those who wanted to kill him.

Many people calling themselves Christians or attending church daily or weekly as an expression of their love for God are yet to encounter Christ. If you encounter Christ, you will love your fellow human extraordinarily.