journey onWord with us

Whether we verbalize them or not, most of us have some very strong opinions. From a political standpoint (democrat or republican), we all wonder why the other side just can’t see what is so obvious to us. Your cultural roots also play a role in shaping your opinions. Growing up in the south gave me far too much exposure to the wrong side of strong opinions. Are we any different spiritually?  Many of us are not.  And in spiritual things, it is so easy to become strongly opinionated about non-essentials. The gospel of Christ is essential, but so much of what we are opinionated about is not. I could ramble on, but hopefully the point is made. We are all opinionated.

In the course of our everyday lives, we rub shoulders with people who have different perspectives on life politically, culturally and spiritually. And although we may never verbalize it, our opinions of them lie just below the surface. Growing older has taught me that my opinions won’t sway others politically or do much to bridge cultural divides. I guess we all do have a right to our own opinions.

How about spiritually? If you are a Christ follower, I would assume that you are concerned about the spiritual lives of those you rub shoulders with. And in our own opinionated way, we often view others as not interested in the claims of Christ. With a quick mental inventory, we could all name individuals that probably will never accept Christ … in our opinion. One man who would have been on my mental “never-coming-to-Christ” checklist is the apostle Paul. Those who knew him as Saul would have undoubtedly agreed.  Look at his testimony!

Acts 22:19-21
‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’

He stood there giving approval when Stephen was martyred! But the love of Christ reached down to Paul and dramatically transformed him. God took this zealous Pharisee and brutal man and used him to shake the world with the gospel. Where I would have condemned him to the “never-coming-to-Christ” checklist, God had a different opinion. Sometimes we all view others with jaded opinions. Our thoughts are, “he or she will never come to Christ”. But the truth is that Christ died on the cross for each and every person on our “never-coming-to-Christ” checklist. Our opinion of their lifestyle, political views or religion has nothing to do with God’s desire for them to know Him.

You and I will always have opinions. But we should never doubt the worth of a soul to God. His love reached Paul, and He desires to reach every single one of those who, in our opinion, won’t ever be interested. Heaven will be full of men and women who others thought would never come to faith in Christ … but they did! And that, in my opinion, is why you and I should tear up our “never-coming-to-Christ” checklist. Better yet, erase the title and rename it “earnestly-praying-for”, or “model-Jesus-in-front-of”.