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Date Posted: Sun, May 16 04
Author: Kenny B
Subject: Witnessing with Love

Earlier this week, I talked to a buddy of mine I hadn't seen in years. We are both new to our jobs, so he was telling me about his area, his likes and dislikes of the place. Although I can't remember much about the talk, one thing in particular stood out to me. He told me about a lady in his group. He felt she was somewhat offensive, pushing her values on him. He started the conversation like this: "There's this Christian lady in my group. I told her that I couldn't wait to get home and drink a beer. She asked me if I was 21. And when I told her no, she started getting on me about it."

I'm not sure what your thoughts on drinking are, and they're not really relevant to this email. However, another thing can be drawn from this encounter. Specifically, the way we choose to talk and interact with people with regards to our beliefs. Sometimes instead of spreading love and compassion to one another, we spread ostracism and condemnation. Instead of spreading our beliefs and values in a constructive way, we look down on people who don't live their lives as we do. We make it our business to place a sticker on their head (metaphorically speaking) and wage a personal vendetta against them.

Now, am I saying that you should condone or even agree with their actions. Absolutely not! On the contrary, I'm saying that these tactics (ostracism and condemnation) do more harm to the Kingdom than good. Nobody likes someone who is always attacking them. Frankly, the more you are negative to someone, the less susceptible they will be to anything you have to say, especially beliefs. But if we choose to be kind and loving despite the circumstance, we become a better witness of Christ's amazing power and love.

"I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down." 2 Corinthians 10:8

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