The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:6b

How should the world view the church? Unfortunately, we've created a brand for the church that Jesus never intended. But we have the opportunity to give everyone a Brand: New perspective.

Jesus' arrival signaled an end to one way of relating to God and the beginning of something entirely new. Jesus instructed us to love one another as well as those who won't love us back. Over time and across cultures, different churches have tried to live that out in different ways. But when you reduce church to its irreducible minimum, it is a group of people doing their best to follow a teacher - Jesus - that we believe was sent from God to clear the way to God.

The arrival of Jesus signaled that the Old Testament was fulfilled and its laws reduced to a single verb - love - to be applied to God, neighbor, and enemy. Jesus showed us that our faith in him should be characterized by love of others. So, what is required if we want to follow Jesus' example and radically love the people around us? What does love require of you at home, at work, on the little league field, in traffic, in line at the grocery store? We almost always know the answer to that question. The hard part is actually doing what love requires.