The JWs are fond of quoting John 13:35 that love is the identifying mark of the true religion claiming that only they have this love among themselves. They love each other.
I was reading the gospel of Luke today and thought about the words of Jesus Luke 6:32-35 NIV, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that."
It made me think what is so special then about this mark of love in John 13:34, 35? Big deal, Jesus says in Luke, everyone - good, bad, or indifferent - all show love to each other.
So I looked at some church commentaries and settled on this one as an explanation - "Maybe the primary way to live out the meaning of John 13:34-35 is to SERVE. If we want our love to be visible then we have to serve people. We have to place others over ourselves. If Christians stay centered on themselves and their own needs they will leave Jesus behind. They will miss out on the incredible life that God has and will fail to make any meaningful impact. The heart of the Gospel centers around service.
If you want to live out this verse seek ways you can serve the people around you. It doesn’t have to be something huge; often small gestures make big impacts. In a world that is increasingly self-centered a selfless people will stand out."
Now that makes sense to me. And it is a million miles away from the restricted JW thinking of only loving the people inside your religion. I mean, come on that isn't about service.
Service is things like - feeding the hungry, helping the homeless with warm clothes and hot food, helping people who have to choose whether they can afford to heat their homes, telling people about the gospel of Jesus, etc. Service is about practical christianity in action. That sort of love DOES identify Christ's followers. People we can see busy in the community helping their neighbours and strangers without the proviso that they must study books before they're going to be offered any meagre help.
It clearly isn't pointing towards the insular selfish witnesses who center everything around themselves only... and have clearly left Jesus behind.