I received quite a bit of feedback on my sermon yesterday on baptism. One of the things that really hit people hard was my statement that "when it comes to unbelievers, compassion works better than confrontation". I didn't have an hour to elaborate, but this is a huge subject that needs to be addressed. Dan Kimball, pastor of Vintage Faith Church wrote a book entitled "They Like Jesus But Not The Church" and the whole emphasis is how society at large views Christianity. It awakened me to the fact that militant Christianity does not work!
In fact, I was reading a blog recently about an author named Sam Harris who wrote a book called "Letter to a Christian Nation". Harris' premise was basically all religion of any kind is bad because it contributes to wars and violence and militant behavior etc.. Now, as Christ followers, that might make us mad to hear, but you know what makes me mad? The response to the book from Christ followers. Check out this quote from Sam Harris.
"Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ's love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism. While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this? The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse."
Dave Kinneman works for the "Barna Group" and not too long ago he reported what the perceptions are of unbelievers ages 16-29 are of Christians. It supports much of what Harris reports. Here are the top 3 perceptions:
1. Christians are anti-homosexual: 91% of people surveyed said that they thought Christians were fixated on homosexuals and leveraging political power against them.
2. Christians are judgmental: 87% of people surveyed said that they doubt Christians really love people like we say we do.
3. Christians are hypocritical: 85% of those surveyed said that Christians don't act like they tell everybody else to act...with love and compassion.
What is my point? My point is that Christ followers have some work to do. Christ said be light! Fill the world with hope. Demonstrate my love. Sacrificially serve. Be kind. Be compassionate. Be forgiving. Be filled with grace. Show mercy. Essentially, He said, Church be me! From the looks of it, we (Christ followers) need to evaluate our strategy. So,where does it start? It starts by understanding the heart of an unbeliever. And when it comes to unbelievers, compassion works so much better than confrontation! Enough said....
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