well...i have been out of town and been unable to post for a few days...but i have really wanted to write about this....
i'm reading again...the book is called unChristian...the book is about the world's perspective on the church...one 25 year old young man said that he felt Christians talk about hating sinand loving sinners, but the way the go about things, they might as well call it what it is...they hate the sin and the sinner...so the running theme in the book is that the world see that Christians are prideful and quick to find faults in others....when what we should want them to see is that Christians show grace by finding good in others and seeing their potential to be Christ followers.
i heard another story about a young lady who went to a church small group Bible study...she went in hopes of gaining a deeper understanding of this Jesus thing...the group of young women were discussing sex, intimacy, and pregnancy...the new young woman brought up the life situation of one of her friends who had been abused...she is now pregnant and considering having an abortion...the conversation then turned defensive with all the ladies trying to convince her abortion was wrong...all she was searching for was some empathy for her friend's situation....what the group did not know is that the new young lady had an abortion herself earlier in her life...she quickly felt on the outside...and the potential she felt she had to follow Christ had just diminished.
the point to recognize is that we never know the full life story of those we are talking to...we really need to focus on talking to versus talking at....we need to recognize everyday the potential in others to become Christ followers.
the people we meet everyday and those we already know live very complex lives...God is wise enough to handle the complexity and demonstrate his love....we should be as well....we should focus on showing compassion especially when we believe so strongly about something....
looking for the potential in others to become Christ followers!
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The difference between Hearing and Listening. I know my children are hearing me, but convincing them to listen takes effort on both are parties. I wonder how much is effort.
Maybe we wouldn't lose so much in translation. those ladies were not there to help. they were probably waiting until after the prayer.
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