Christians Are Different
Please forgive me, I may just be wrong. But, it is my experience that Christians (especially males to my male mind) are keen to be accepted by their peers, and so compromise their behavior and/or their speech.
The popular Aussie Christian male's mission phrase I usually hear runs something like this in local vernacular:
I want them (their non-Christian mates) to see that us Christians are no different to them, we don't have two heads.
The problem with that line is Christians Are Different. It is not our similarities that will draw them to Christ, but our differences.
John Edwards, an Aussie Christian bloke explained on FaceBook:
I was heading to Manilla for my brother's wedding.
The round-trip involved a layover in Guam - so I stayed at a YWAM base.
I let the base-leader know I was keen to reach out during my short time there, so she took me to a prison.
One of the inmates, who seemed to be feared by his fellow-prisoners as the top rooster, snarled at me:
"I suppose you're going to tell us how bad you were, how you got converted - we've heard it all before!"
I've seen rough-looking guys with open hearts before - but I can tell you, I didn't feel any welcome from these guys at all. The atmosphere felt charged - and I was locked inside with them!
I answered that I'd never really been in trouble with the law.
In fact, I became a Christian when I was only 12 years old, I said.
That seemed to totally disarm him. It made him wonder why I was even there then, and what I was going to say.
His whole face lightened up, as he listened with his heart. When the other men saw his openness towards me, they all let down their guard.
They welcomed the Word, and me - with open hearts. We all felt the love of JESUS, and prayed together.
Sometimes, looking like them is not what they need.
What can a Christian offer, if it is not first that point of difference?
We are not called to be like others, we are called to be like Christ.
Today's Soul Snippet:
'A religion small enough for our understanding would not be big enough for our needs'. ~ anon
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