This short work by Dr. Schaeffer is not deep into theology or philosophy. It is simple and to the point. There are two passages of Scripture that are primarily utilized as the context. One is John 13:34, 35 where Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another". The other is John 17:21 where Jesus is praying to the Father "that they all may be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me". The Mark of the Christian, as Schaeffer says the Bible defines it, is Christian Love. It is not a mushy, gooey, romantic love, but one that is practical and that a watching world can see. This love is one that knows how to say, "I’m sorry," and that knows how to openly forgive. This love should also not be equated to organizational unity. In contrast to that it means unity stemming from the common bond of caring for each other. Schaeffer sites the Catholic Church as one that has organizational unity. Yet it is cutting itself to ribbons from within. Many Protestantdenominations could fall into this same type of unity. Schaeffer also writes that, while this particular category of love is just for other Christians alone, Christians are also to love humans outside the Church as well: The most important thing, however, that Schaeffer says in this work is what he calls The Final Apologetic. If we as Christians do not love each other, than the world will say that God did not send Christ as the gospel proclaims. Within the framework of the Final Apologetic, we as Christians have a responsibility to live the gospel and in such a way that the dying and hurting world may see it and seek after it. Schaeffer then concludes this short book by saying: The work is then ended with a short poem called Lament by Evangeline Paterson : Schaeffer considered this booklet to be one of his most important works. This is shown by the fact that in his lifetime it was published in four different forms. First it was published by itself. Then an essay from it was written for Christianity Today. It was published as an appendix to The Church At The End of the Twentieth Century. It was included in The Complete Works... as cited above. Then it was included as an appendix to The Great Evangelical Disaster which was the last book Schaeffer wrote before his death in May 1984. One reviewer wrote that "Excellent reading is offered Christians who want to practice and exhibit both the holiness of God and the love of God." Yet maybe the greatest tribute to its importance to evangelicals was when Christianity Today published it again in the March 6, 1995 issue, eleven years after his death. In the preface to that reprint the editor writes of how Schaeffer was not a stranger to controversy and to schisms in Protestant denominations. "He did, however," writes the editor, "articulate a theology of disagreement...His pointed challenges remind us that we must not only choose the right battles, but also choose the right way to fight".
