Pudgy says:
"Leadership is like teaching someone Pioneering Merit Badge. You have to show them how to tie the knots. You can't just tell them how to do it."
Luke 10: 25-37
Psalm 15
"And he(the lawyer) answered, `You shall love the Lord with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with
all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.' And he(Jesus) said to
him, `You have answered right; do this and you will live(Luke 10:27-28)."
It's easy to preach at people. Christians like to condemn
atheists, homosexuals, and condemn those who belong to other
religions, or even denominations. It's very easy to say `since you are
not a Christian, you are going to hell.' You try to convince people to
believe exactly what you believe. But in the end, you end up failing.
Why? Because you're not backing up what you're saying. I've done it
myself many times.
We fall into the trap of superiority. "You're wrong. I'm right,"
we say. "You're a Hindu. Your religion is wrong. If you don't believe
in Christ, you go to hell." I think I wrote a devotion like that
earlier. However true this may be, it's not going to make Hindu,
Buddhist or Muslim feel welcome. There's nothing more welcoming than
the threat of eternal torment, is there? Then there is the offering
and tithing hullabaloo. Some churches practically demand that you give
them money. To a poor person, the church can become nothing more than
another part of a money greedy world, instead of a safe haven from the
world. Some churches don't even give money to the poor at all!
We Christians need to back up what we say. Christ's number one
priority is love. Saying `you're wrong' all the time is not love. In
the parable of the good Samaritan, we see true Christianity. This man
gave the shirt off his back to help a man that the super religious
people didn't even care about. This Samaritan wasn't a particularly
holy man. It wouldn't have made a difference whether or not he even
believed in God. But he was motivated by love to help out a poor,
abused man, a man about to die.
As a writer, I have read many times that you should `show, not
tell.' We as Christians should likewise show, not tell. We should show
the love of Christ, and not just tell about it. We should be doing
things, not just e-mailing and chatting about them. I urge you all to
follow the example of the good Samaritan. Do something kind for a
non-believer. Be nice to someone you hate. You might even hug that
person. Ask yourself: am I walking the walk, or just talking the talk?
Dear Father in heaven, it is difficult for us to actually do what you
tell us to do. Often, we find it more comfortable to merely talk about
doing those things. Lord, so often we fall into the trap of sin. We
hate people, condemn people, and thoroughly criticize people. Help us
to be more than talkers, Lord. Help us to walk the walk, and show the
affection of the good Samaritan. Help us to forgive our enemies, help
us to have compassion on the poor, and help us to share our love with
those who don't believe the same things we do. I pray all of these
things in your son's holy name. Amen.