Alright, most of you reading this have gone to Sunday school at one point or another. So answer this common question for me. How do you know you are a Christian?
Some will quickly point out that they prayed the sinner’s prayer. Others will say that they just feel saved. Others will say that they’ve been going to church all their life. Those who are more advanced in the ways of the Sunday School will say they know they are saved by the fruit they produce, or that they are saved because their lives have been changed.
But recently I’ve been thinking about forgiveness and love. I think we can add one more answer to this question.
I Love Idi Amin
Idi Amin was a tyrant that murdered around 300,000 Ugandans during his 9 year reign. He was a mini-Hitler, and a micro-Satan. This dude was evil to the core. He flaunted his brutality to the world, and left Uganda in turmoil.
In the midst of it all, he severely persecuted Christians. Festo Kivengere, an Anglican bishop, lived during his reign. He witnessed the wickedness of Idi Amin, and eventually he fled Uganda. Within the same year, he wrote a book titled “I Love Idi Amin”. In it, he talked about the supernatural joy and peace Ugandan Christians had despite Amin.
After hearing this story of supernatural love, I thought of all the persecuted Christians overseas I’ve read about who sing as they get executed. They love their tormentors. They forgive those who hate them.
And after reading about them, I always go back to Jesus’ words. As He was being mocked and ridiculed on the cross, He was bearing the weight of our sins. And here we were humiliating Him. I’m tearing up as I write this now because I can’t understand the love He has for me. For you.
“Father forgive Nathan, for he knows not what he does.”
A Supernatural Love
So what’s this other answer to the question “how do you know you are a Christian?” The answer is that you will be able to love and forgive the unlovable. Jesus loved a worthless nobody like me. Festo Kivengere loved a tyrannical monster. Countless unnamed Christians overseas suffer torture at the hands of the very people they try to help (prison guards).
Ladies and gentlemen, that is a supernatural love a non-Christian cannot have.
Oh, the world can forget the wrongs done to them. Maybe even forgive them. But the world cannot turn around and love those who hate them. No, it takes a power Satan does not have.
So look at your own life. Are there people that you feel you cannot love? Maybe a coworker, teacher, parent, spouse, or an ex-friend? You may be right. On our own strength, there are times when our love just runs out. But hang on to the words of Jesus:
“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke 6:27-28, NRSV)
He doesn’t ask for us to fight our own battles, because He’s won the war. By His strength we can love those who hate us. We can love those whom the world cannot.
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