What is a Christian?
Did you know that the word “Christian” is the possessive form of the word “Christ”? In other words, the word “Christian” means “owned by Christ.” In the culture of biblical times when almost half of the population of the world were slaves, the implication of this term was that Christians considered themselves to be slaves of Jesus. Paul repeatedly referred to himself specifically as a slave of Jesus Christ. Jesus made it clear that he was either our master or we had no place in his kingdom. How do you think this compares with the perspective of the typical American Christian?
Revitalizing Christianity Study Guide-3-Hole Loose-Leaf 
Revitalizing Christianity Workshops Audio Download
That is true, but since 1John 4:8 and 4:16 tell us that God is agape love, which Jesus defined in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) as caring, unselfish, generous, active, and forgiving love, and since God calls on us to grow as his children by learning to live that same kind of love (same passage in Luke), one cannot have a personal relationship with God without having that kind of love towards his or her fellow humans. As John said, “If we don’t love [agape] people whom we can see, how can we love [agape] the God we cannot see?” (1John 4:20).