I posted a blog about the times that are changing for someone to be a “casual Christian” and the events of the day moving people to know what they believe and what they are willing to lay down their lives for. We have seen this more often oversees with Christians being rounded up by groups like ISIS and killed because they are followers of Christ. It seems that we do not have a problem with freedom of religion in the United States but a problem with freedom of Christianity and I think I know why.
1. Don’t be surprised when people who are not followers of Christ don’t understand why you love them the way you do.
Many times in the media, and just in our culture, the focus is normally on how people identifying themselves as Christians judge others instead of how they (should be) loving others. We all follow rules in life. It can be seen in the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the sports teams we cheer for or the places we work. The key difference is that as a true follower of Christ we need to love like Jesus, tell the truth like Jesus and let Him be the only watermark for our actions. This is only seen in the Bible and the instruction it gives. If you don’t know the Bible then you don’t know how to love people.
2. Don’t just love people, also tell them what you believe.
These two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. I cannot recall an instance in the Bible where Jesus expressed true life-changing love without providing that person with knowing the truth about what he came to do, which was to alter the destiny that they were convinced was either their lot in life or made them the most happy. That was why Jesus was the anomaly when it came to loving people; he loved louder and more than ANYONE else but it didn’t stop at just expressing love and helping people feel accepted and listened to. It was about a difference of opinion to help people consider if what they were choosing for their life really was the best path. I believe there are many well-meaning Christians in this world that are trying to convince people what they are doing is wrong without loving them first. This method has never led to ANYONE truly giving God control of their life. It is a form of manipulation and it’s wrong.
Love, Listen, Lead – Love FIRST, Listen to where people are in life and then Lead them to Jesus (with your actions and words if necessary 🙂 (Click Here to see resources for people who have basic questions about Christianity)
3. Don’t think it’s your responsibility alone to get everyone to heaven.
Many times, especially if you grew up in church, we forget that it is the Holy Spirit’s job to draw people to Christ and not our convincing words. I have mentioned this before in other blogs, but it is important to understand that we are each just a part of the greater process that is the miracle of someone giving Jesus control of their life AND their destiny. I am not on this earth just to help people think that it’s important to give Jesus control of their life while here on earth, I want to be an agent of change for people’s destinies!
Have a great week and know that God will give you the ability to live a successful life on this earth loving people but still being able to disagree with life choices. Just make sure that your love for people is deafening. There is NO GREATER LOVE than loving someone who hates you. THAT is the true love of Jesus that this world needs and the only thing that will shock people out of where they are to where God wants them to be.
Holy Crap 