Originally Posted by antlers
When one opens the New Testament and asks the question, "What does it look like to be a follower of Jesus...?", it's crystal clear. If one doesn’t 'get' anything else, here's the thing that should describe one, here's the thing that should characterize one 'more than anything else', here's what He said to His closest followers before He left the earth - "By *this* everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” Period.

It's not by reading the Bible, and it’s not by memorizing Bible verses, it’s not by condemning others for their sins, and it’s not by going to church on Sunday morning, it’s not by the gold cross hangin' on one’s neck, and it's not by one’s church bumper sticker, it's not by what kind of family one was born into or raised in, and it's not that one was baptized, and it's most certainly not by the disdain that one has for certain people, and it's certainly not by policing other people's behavior either, and it’s definitely not by conforming to “orthodox Christianity.”

It’s OK that we see things differently.

The new Testament also contains Matthew 8.

All of scripture is God's Word.