Generation Hymn StoriesSýnishorn

They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love

Peter Scholtes wrote this hymn while a parish priest at St. Brendan's on the South Side of Chicago in the 1960s. At the time, he led a youth choir out of the church basement and sought an appropriate song for a series of ecumenical, interracial events. When he couldn't find such a song, he wrote this now-famous hymn in a single day.

John 17:21 is such a profound verse in the Bible. It reads, “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”

It’s amazing to me that in this verse, Jesus is saying, straight up, that the way the world will know that He is the Messiah is through our unity and love. Not by how smart we are, by our righteous acts or an amazing talent, but are love. The apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13 that without love, we are nothing. So, the question is, how can we be on the unity team today and not the division team? Well, here are a few thoughts:

1. Show the same love and forgiveness to others that God has shown us.
2. Display the same patience and kindness to others that God has shown us.
3. When we are offended by someone, go directly to them.
4. Write an affirming note to a friend or church leader.
5. Be a teachable and correctable person.
6. Strive to be a good listener to Christians that look and think differently than we do.
7. Be a faithful church attender and worship with your fellow believers.

Whatever it may be, we have so much we agree on. As we read these Bible verses, let’s ask God to show us how we can be like Peter Scholtes and bring unity and love tangibly today.

– Tommy Walker

Source: The Lorenz Corporation; Discipleship Ministries | Nashville, Tennessee.