Caught in the arms of grace

Been thinking alot about accepting people lately.

Wait, what does accepting people come about grace?

Simple. Will explain as i go, but let's start this properly. (this is a serious seriously long post. you were warned)

Everyone hates rejection. Let's face it, we are all made as social creatures. Introverts and Extroverts alike, are affected by (the lack of) human touch. Being lonely sucks, especially in the stormy patch we all will very soon graduate from - adolecence.

Conversely, being in a clique of friends is awesome. Having a friend (or two) to go thru thick and thin helps survival. Having a few crazy ones, is one of the best things in life. Like it or not, we cannot isolate ourselves from the world. That was one of the reason (among others) why JS (or YQ, YLDP or any other great programme) rocked.

However.

Rejection happens when something alien to the individual is made known and the person reacts in a negative manner to the situation presented. Uncomfortable reactions. A big stare. Ugly words. Isolation. There are many ways to express rejection.

And like it or not, we would have rejected somebody, knowingly or not, in our life. And here is where i'm getting at.

You see, we fellow Christians are supposed to be 'the light to the world'. But to reject someone who needed acceptance from you is no good testimony, even to fellow believers. Maybe the person seemed wierd or scary, but it is defitnately not what Christ commanded us to do. He said "Go and make disiples of ALL nations..." (Matt 28.19) and "you will be my witnesses in...to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1.8). And we all know, that the best way to share the gospel is to be a good witness/testimony. And like it or not, rejecting people because of various reason is no Christian value.

Sure, we all know that, but where is the actual problem?

How about how we respond to people of other 'inferior' races, religious background, political royalties, state of origin, or even... controversial people/people with controversial practices, for example, "people like us"??? (PLU, if u dunno, search definition up on Wiki)

The gospel is for everyone. We as comfy Christians are too comfy being in our 'self-righteous bubble'. I may speak harsh words, but face it - it's harsher for those who are the 'reject victims'. And what i feel is that we are losing many souls, even those backsliding, solely because of this reason. Why? For that, we need to ponder. Even if it is not you, don't you feel you should make sure the people you influence are not so, either?

Besides, even if we are facing something the Bible speak against, we can accept the individual but not his/her actions, right? If not, how on earth do we change the world?

This is, of course, easier said than done, though. And that is where we need grace more than anything else in this world. We need it so much that it has to overflow from our lives into these people whom God yearns to bring back into His fold. We sing Hosanna, but our heart needs to be BROKEN first. And that, needs divine intervention.

If not, something like this might repeat... Here's a snippet from the pages of History... (edit: mind you, i find this thoughts sobering also...)

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Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most respected leaders of modern history. A Hindu, Ghandi nevertheless admired Jesus and often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. Once when the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Ghandi he asked him, "Mr. Ghandi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?"

Ghandi replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Apparently Ghandi's rejection of Christianity grew out of an incident that happened when he was a young man practising law in South Africa. He had become attracted to the Christian faith, had studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and was seriously exploring becoming a Christian. And so he decided to attend a church service. As he came up the steps of the large church where he intended to go, a white South African elder of the church barred his way at the door. "Where do you think you're going, kaffir?" the man asked Ghandi in a belligerent tone of voice.

Ghandi replied, "I'd like to attend worship here."

The church elder snarled at him, "There's no room for kaffirs in this church. Get out of here or I'll have my assistants throw you down the steps."

From that moment, Ghandi said, he decided to adopt what good he found in Christianity, but would never again consider becoming a Christian if it meant being part of the church.

How we treat those others tells people MORE about what we believe, and what following Jesus means to us, than all the fine sermons we deliver.

Article taken from John Mark Ministries, http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/552.htm.