I lost a FB friend recently. I went to look one day for recent posts from this person and was shocked to find that she was no longer my friend. This has happened to me a few times...it probably has happened to many people. Yet this wasn't some random person I went to school with that I had reconnected with on social media after 15 years. This was a person I considered one of my closest friends. We had stayed in touch after high school, even though we were half a world away. She celebrated so many things with me and my family...birthdays, weddings, etc. She was one of the first people I called when I gave birth to each of my children. I'm not sure the reason this happened (I can't get a response from her), but I am assuming that it had to do with political or religious reasons. See, my friend and I were once very much alike - "free" thinking hippie-types that were pretty socially and politically liberal. If you know me, then you know I am no longer of that mindset. Having Christ in my life not only changed my way of thinking in such matters, but has changed every fiber of my being. Some people don't like that. Some people disagree with me and dismiss it. Or me.
I usually regard these parting of ways as a thing Christians have to deal with. I mean the Bible tells us we will be persecuted, after all (2 Tim 3:12). But this time I felt hurt deep down. As lay in bed the other night, crying about the situation; I prayed to God, asking why and how I am driving people away. His answer was that it wasn't me driving people away, it was people running from Him. I tried to figure out what I can do to help win people to Christ. This is what the Lord gave me:
Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you, and you only have to be silent.
Hmph. Here Moses was telling the Israelites to stop freaking out; that the Lord would save them if only they trusted and shut up. I think this is the problem we, as Christians, have a lot of times. We get so bent on righting every wrong in this world that sometimes we rage about things we will never be able to change. My fantastic Sunday School teacher said last week that the Bible does not call the church to fix every wrong in the world. Kinda of a new concept when the church has so many crusaders. But as I lay there, praying to God, I finally got it. We think a certain way about things because we know the love of Christ. The people we are trying to persuade mostly have no clue about Christ, faith or the Bible. We are preaching to people who look at us as if we have two heads and are speaking Martian. They will never get it.
They will, however, understand the love of Christ if that is what we show them. And once they know the love of Christ, all those other social and political issues - abortion, gay marriage, etc. (take your pick) - will follow as they grow and learn what the Bible says. So I've discovered that our crusading should not be to change the world, but to help be an example to change peoples hearts. The Holy Spirit works through us when we witness to others about the saving grace of God, not when we rant about political issues.
I am not saying that we shouldn't be vigilant about what happens in this country or the world. We should. We should know what is going on, we should be voting, we should be out there being activists. Activists in the sense that we are actually doing something about the injustices we see happening....not just ranting about it and re-posting photos or articles on social media. We're not winning in that respect.
So how do we go about this? We get out there and do. Do for others (volunteer to work with kids or the homeless or the hungry...whatever it is you feel led to do). And while you're doing, share with them how Christ changed you and your life. Share with them the fact that we all are sinners and fall short of the Glory of God. Share with them that there is an answer to this through the wonderful love of Jesus Christ. Bear witness to all the glorious things you have learned through the Bible.
This is how we will change the world.
I feel ashamed now that my "ex-friend" will probably no longer have a Godly influence on her life....I think perhaps I was one of her few Christian friends. Now what will happen, I don't know. I can only pray for her and her salvation.
But I also have to think about what might have happened if I had just shut up and let God do His work.
