“It makes all the difference in the world whether I view my neighbor as a potential convert or as someone whom God already loves.”

A thought by Philip Yancey (2014-10-21) from his book, Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News? (p. 44). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Let me ask you something. How do you feel when you know that someone looks at you as a person that they want to convert to their view?

I have a very good friend who is a San Francisco Giants’ fan. He loves the Giants and I love the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now what if he looked at me totally from the standpoint that he was going to convert me to being a Giants’ fan. I mean all he does is tell me how much better it is to love the Giants. They have won the World Series 3 out of the last 5 years. He just knows that I should want to be a Giants’ fan. But he doesn’t criticize me. He just accepts me. He is my friend.

Philip says, “I’ve yet to meet someone who found their way to faith by being criticized.” But we do that all the time don’t we?

Philip shares some thoughts that the priest Henri Nouwen had from a mission trip to South America. Philip said, “He went expecting to pass on his wisdom to the poor and unenlightened. During his six-month stay, Nouwen concluded that a desire to save, whether from sin or poverty or exploitation, is one of the most damaging motives in ministry. ‘Humility is the real Christian virtue,’ says Nouwen. ‘When we come to realize that . . . only God saves, then we are free to serve, then we can live truly humble lives.’ Nouwen changed his approach from ‘selling pearls,’ or peddling the good news, to ‘hunting for the treasure’ already present in those he was called to love — a shift from dispensing religion to dispensing grace.”

I walk out of stores when I feel they are trying to sell me but I stay when I feel they are want to help me. Love does not sell, love serves. The vacuum that so many people feel is love. God loves them. Let’s show that by serving them and by being their friend.

Who needs your friendship, your love?

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