Keith Plummer, dean of the School of Divinity at Cairn University, writes these words:
It’s absolutely vital for the church to practice demonstrable love, particularly between its members. This may be the most powerful motive for our neighbors to trust Jesus.
Francis Schaeffer’s emphasis on love between Christians as “the final apologetic” has profoundly influenced me and many others. In The Mark of the Christian, he wrote,
Without true Christians loving one another, Christ says the world cannot be expected to listen, even when we give proper answers. Let us be careful, indeed, to spend a lifetime studying to give honest answers. For years the orthodox, evangelical church has done very poorly. So it is well to spend time learning to answer the questions of men who are about us. But after we have done our best to communicate to a lost world, still we must never forget that the final apologetic which Jesus gives is the observable love of true Christians for true Christians.
Intellectual objections to the faith should be addressed. However, the truth of the gospel must be declared, defended, and practiced such that the unbelieving world can’t help but take note. It should be apparent something inexplicable on natural grounds is at work. That’s Christian love.
The unbelieving world is familiar with attraction and commitment based on relationships of sameness and reciprocity. For Christians, love should be shockingly sacrificial. Yet Christian love is even more astonishing when it crosses normal human boundaries.
Read the rest of Keith’s article here: “Love Is the Greatest Apologetic”