Love, Most of All

I've been a part of a Christian critique group for the past several months. There's been some conferences coming up, and most of my particular group members have been dropping out to get ready for the conference or just dropping out altogether. So, just being two of us really active, I decided to join another critique group that my one active fellow group member had started sometime ago. These are internet groups, just in case there was any confusion. Yahoo groups to exact. Anyways, this new group doesn't have a specification as far as genre or religion or anything. It used to be focused on writers around a certain city, but the moderator decided to open it up to anybody anywhere. In my initial post, I mentioned that I only write Christian stories because I feel God has called me to spread His message through my writing. So of course, the first person to welcome me into the group declared that she wasn't a Christian and didn't want me trying to start any religious wars among the group. I get the feeling that she is religious, just not Christian. Maybe Jewish or Muslim. Or maybe not. I don't really know. Don't get the wrong idea about this woman. Her words were kind, and she meant it as merely a warning. I hope she's not one of those people that assumes all Christians are out there to force people to believe in Christ and argue and fight and scream until people agree with their way of thinking. I've seen Christian people behave this way, and it is far from a Christian way to behave. But it happens. I don't act that way. Most of the Christians I know don't act that way. True Christians are usually calm and humble people. We are passionate, yes. And when somebody challenges our beliefs or threatens our way of life, we will rise up. But on the whole, from day to day, we go about our life like anyone else. I had the urge to immediately respond to this lady's comments, but I didn't. I thought about them for a few days, and the more I thought about them, the more it confirmed in my mind that our basic purpose as Christians is to present God's truth to the people of the world to give them the chance to accept it or deny it. We have other duties to ourselves and fellow Christians and God, but as far as the rest of the world is concerned, that's basically it. You don't have to force your neighbors to go to church with you. Be a living example for them to witness every day, and they may ask to go to church with you. People are less likely to want to do something when they are forced. And even if you manage to get them to go, something's liable to happen that will make them not want to return. I remember some time ago there was a young couple that had been living in sin. They had each been promiscuous previously and they'd had a child out of wedlock. They were married but considering divorce. Their lives were in turmoil. A friend convinced them to come to church with them, promising the things God promises to those who believe. It would fix their marriage, fix their drug problems. Everything. And it could have, but the preacher at that time decided to preach on the immorality of sex before marriage and promiscuity and pretty much everything that couple had been involved in before they decided to seek Christ. And he kept staring at that couple as they sat somewhere in the middle of the congregation. You know how sometimes you think the preacher is staring directly at you when he's saying something that you believe particularly pertains to you. Well, it was obvious that's exactly what he was doing to that young couple. Needless to say, they never went back to that church and their marriage fell apart and I don't know what became of them. Knowing this couple's situation, the preacher decided to chide them and tell them just how bad of sinners they were. But the couple already knew this. They had accepted that they were sinners and were seeking God's grace. The preacher should have preached a sermon on God's love and the redemption He gives us through Christ. Also, needless to say, that preacher isn't at that church anymore, and that church has been struggling to keep young couples active in their congregation. So just think about this as you write or talk to somebody that isn't a Christian. Helping others to recognize they are sinners is one thing, but don't forget to show them grace and love. We've all sinned and deserve the eternal agony of Hell. But God sent His Son. And He sent His love. You can never give too much love.