“The issue is not whether I agree with someone but rather how I treat someone with whom I profoundly disagree.”

A thought by Philip Yancey (2014-10-21) from his book, Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News? (p. 26). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Philip continues, “We Christians are called to use the ‘weapons of grace,’ which means treating even our opponents with love and respect. As usual, Jesus shows the way. When the Pharisees taunted him as ‘a Samaritan and demon-possessed,’ he denied the accusation of demon-possession but did not protest the racial slur. He rebuked the disciples for their call for violence against the Samaritans. Pointedly, he made a Samaritan the hero of one of his finest parables. He went out of his way to visit a Samaritan village and commanded his Jewish disciples to take the gospel to other such villages. Eventually the disciples got the point: when Samaritans became Christ-followers with ‘great joy’ after Jesus’ ascension, they received the Holy Spirit through the ministry of Peter and John — the same John who had once called for fire from heaven to destroy them.”

Oh this world needs a people who don’t want to call fire down on those we disagree with but who wants to love and respect them by using “weapons of grace.” That is where we show that being a Christ follower really makes a difference. It starts inside of us and comes out through us.

And may we pray the prayer of Henri Nouwen, “God, help me to see others not as my enemies or as ungodly but rather as thirsty people. And give me the courage and compassion to offer your Living Water, which alone quenches deep thirst.”

So what will we do when someone disagrees with us?

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