The Sign
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“There is no better sign by which a Christian may be identified than the care he shows for his fellow man.”
St. John Chrysostom is really just echoing the New Testament here—where St. John the Apostle says, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
But I like the way St. John Chrysostom puts it. No offense to St. John the Beloved.
This is the reflection: Can people tell we’re Christians by how we care about our fellow man? Even if they know nothing else about us?
We might jump to comparing ourselves to Mother Teresa. But we can start far simpler than that.
Do we actually care about other people? Are we interested in them? Are we helpful? Do we go out of our way to be kind?
Do we listen when someone talks, or are we just waiting for our turn to speak?
Do we notice when someone’s struggling, or are we too absorbed in our own concerns?
Do we treat the cashier, the server, the stranger in the parking lot with dignity—or do we only show care to people who can do something for us?
These can be even the smallest indicators that something else is going on. That deep down, there’s a faith that permeates everything we do.
People should be able to tell we’re Christians before we ever say a word about Jesus.