Love and Life:

This is just a follow-up to what I wrote Sunday on 1 Corinthians 13.  As I was reading material and thinking through this coming Sunday's sermon, I was considering some of the characteristics of Christian love--kindness, patience, selflessness, trust, and others.

 

It occurred to me that many people who resist the Christian way of life do so not necessarily because they're opposed to that way of living, but because it has never been demonstrated to them in a loving way, with a loving spirit, by loving people.  Many churches seem judgmental.  Many parents were harsh in their discipline.  Many Christians were inconsiderate, cruel, or dismissive.

 

I realize that many people do oppose right living because we are, at bottom, sinners.  I readily, if unhappily, must affirm the total depravity of man.  Neither do I wish to paint all churches or parents who encourage righteous living with a broad brush of criticism.  I have, however, come to realize, through email contacts I've made and observations over a lifetime of ministry, that many people who are living outside the faith have not so much rejected Christian teachings as they have rejected those who claim to be Christian teachers.

 

We who are Christians   don't necessarily all share in this guilt; but before we form negative opinions of others or become hopelessly discouraged about some of those who are wavering in our midst, we need to realize that a lifetime of experiences cannot be swept away by a single conversation or one pleasant evening of "seeker-sensitive" worship!