Y'know, talking with non-Christians is really interesting sometimes. I've realized more and more that to show Jesus to someone, it's not about mentioning Him every other sentence. It's treating them with love and respect. Loving them like Christ would. Talking with them respectfully. Taking into consideration what THEY say and think about God and Christianity.
Their thoughts and opinions are important. They might not be true, but they are important, so don't brush them off. If you have answers for them, great. If you don't, you say you don't. Don't get defensive and upset when they bring up negative things about Christianity, because we can't ignore the negative, and God doesn't need defending. He is God. It's God's kindness that brought us to repentance in the first place, not His being offended (which He would have every right to be offended by us and our sin).
And just because we're not trying to convert them all the time doesn't mean we're "ashamed" of the Gospel.
When you're planting a garden, you have to cultivate the soil, loosen it, make sure the seeds can grow, and they can become well-rooted. You don't just put the seeds in the ground and hope and pray that it grows okay.
I realize a lot of people might not agree with me on this, but this is what I have found to be true. And I'll be praying for my non-Christian friends today.
Hey Lil,
Lately I've found myself working around a lot of young people (teenagers.) It makes me sad to hear them talk:
"If we could just get invited to such-and-such party, we'd be LIT!! There would be so many (derogatory term for women) there!! It would be totally sick!" (Yes, it would, but not in the way they're thinking.)
"Why can't we all just love ourselves?" (One teen has very obvious cuts all up and down their arms, and makes no effort to hide them.)
"What's it like to have parents who are married to each other?" (A young girl actually asked me this.)
"All my friends identify as something different... 'gay', 'bi', 'pan-sexual', 'semi-sexual'... I'm not sure where I fit in but I'm going to keep experimenting in order to find out."
There are so many times I want to just jump up and give these kids a hug. We don't know what they've been through, and many of them have probably been through as much or more as I've been through in my adult life. I'm a Christian who's been deeply wounded by religion and other Christians, so I can only imagine what some non-Christians have suffered at the hands of "the church" and its people.
I think many Christians don't realize that witnessing is like talking to someone from a foreign country. You can't just speak to them in your native language and expect them to conform to you (though there are many people who do that, both literally and figuratively.) You have a to learn a little of their language and find some sort of common ground in order to meet them on their own territory. For me, my preferred "languages" of choice are identity (Why makes you feel like you do or don't belong?), pain (everyone is hurting over something), and laughter. I've found that if I can find some kind of common ground in any of these areas, you can establish a level of trust that opens the door for other topics, including spiritual things. I have been praying for a way to talk to some of these kids, just about their own lives, because it's a start.
I also heard a sermon a long time ago that I'll never forget. The pastor was saying it might take 17 more steps and meeting 8 more people before that person comes to Christ, and you may be Person #2 and working on steps 3 and 4 with them.
I think so many Christians (including myself) feel the need to take the person by the hand and drag them over the Salvation Line, whether they're willing or not. And then they say, "Oh well, if they won't accept what I'm saying, they have to take it up with God because I did my part," and will quote the passage about Paul shaking the dust off his feet and moving on.
These Christians might mean well but they may actually be doing a lot more harm than good. And while they're telling everyone else to "take it up with God", they fail to realize that maybe it's them who need to go to God--about revising their methods.
