We have all heard of a litmus test - it is the stand that you take on one significant issue that determines how you are judged in general. So it is worth asking, "Did Jesus have a litmus test?" Is there one issue, one principle or dogma within his teachings that can function as a criterion for judgement - that would prove if you are a Christian or not, depending upon where we stand on that issue? It is a simple question: What is essential and what is negotiable in the teachings of Jesus? Is there any one thing in the teachings of Jesus that can define what it takes to be uniquely Christian?

I would submit that there are four things that Jesus asks of anyone who would be his disciple: First, that he or she "keep the commandments", both the larger commandment of the heart "to love God and neighbor" and the ten commandments. "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word." An essential component of being a Christian is having a private relationship to Jesus and being faithful in the area of private morality.

Second, Jesus mandates social justice as non-negotiable, not optional, for Christian discipleship. This is clear from Jesus' own life and from the last judgement scene in Matthew's gospel..."when you feed the hungry, clothed the naked, give drink to the thirsty - you did it to me." One out of every eight lines in the gospels is an imperative from Jesus to reach out to the poor.

Third, as Jesus defines it, discipleship demands involvement within a concrete community of faith. Christianity is not something we do alone. We are asked to journey to God with each other as part of a community or church. As St. John puts it, "The one who claims to love a God that he cannot see and does not love a neighbor he can see is a liar."

Finally, what Jesus asks of us as an essential component of discipleship is a mellow, warm, grateful heart. Discipleship is not just about what we do but how we do it...about the spirit within which we do it. We need the right truth but we need the right energy. Nothing counts for much, no matter how right or orthodox the action if it does not come from love and gratitude. When our concern for truth, justice or morality comes out of a place of anger, bitterness or judgement, we are no longer acting as disciples of Jesus, not matter how right the cause.

So, private integrity, social justice, involvement in a church community and mellowness of heart are the essentials of Christian discipleship. But is there a real litmus test beyond these essentials? There is. For Jesus the litmus test, at least for a mature disciple , is this: Can you love an enemy? Can you bless someone who curses you? Can you forgive, and can you forgive even a murderer? It is precisely this challenge that Jesus refers to when he tells us that our virtue must go deeper than the virtue of the scribes and Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees were, for the most part, sincere and decent men and women who loved God, tried to help the poor, were concerned about truth and morals and practiced justice. But loving an enemy and forgiving a murderer are not found in the ten commandments or church dogma. They are an invitation to something deeper, an invitation that comes from Jesus' life and teaching that in the end is the true litmus test for mature discipleship.

Who is a real Christian and who is not? The deepest answer in the gospels would be: The person who can love an enemy, bless those who curse you, and forgive everyone, even a murderer.