To be identified with Christ is to embody specific attributes. The New Testament enumerates many of these traits in “virtue lists” found throughout. For instance: 2 Timothy 2:24-25. “The Lord’s servant must be … kind to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, [and] correcting opponents
with gentleness
. The Christian does not have the option of withholding kindness or opposing others harshly. Kindness and gentleness are mandated by the word.
Of course, we see people claiming the title ‘Christian’ lash out in judgment, villainizing those who disagree with them. Such behavior disregards the New Testament these very Christians would herald as the “word of God.” Those guilty of withholding kindness and gentleness clearly are not actually connected to Jesus, who gently welcomed the tax collector, the prostitute, the physically disabled, and the morally corrupt. Why did Jesus treat his opponents so differently that those today, who claim to be his followers?