From the March 2010 edition of 
The Announcer 

 

Let me share with you two interesting observations I have recently read.

 

Philip Yancey, in one of his “The Back Page” columns in Christianity Today (November 2008, 119) tells of a conversation he had with a Christian pastor from India.  “Most of what happens in Christian churches, including even the miracles, can be duplicated in Hindu and Muslim congregations,” the pastor said to him.  “But in my area only Christians strive, however ineptly, to mix men and women of different castes, races and social groups.  That’s the real miracle.”

 

And perhaps that’s because without having read it, they are trying to do what this 2nd thing I’m sharing with you says.

 

It’s from a man named Rob Bell.  He said, or wrote, “It is when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most vividly put on display.  To do this, the church must stop thinking about everybody primarily in categories of in or out, saved or not, believer or nonbeliever.  Besides the fact that these terms are offensive to those who are the “un” and “non,” they work against Jesus’ teachings about how we are to treat each other. 

 

“Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor, and our neighbor can be anybody.  We are all created in the image of God, and we are all sacred, valuable creations of God.  Everybody matters.  To treat people differently based on who believes what is to fail to respect the image of God in everyone.  As the Book of James says, “God shows no favoritism.”  So we don’t either.”

 

For some this is a challenge.  Perhaps it is a challenge to take up during Lent!

                
 

 

 

  Keep and share the faith,
    Pastor Richard Lanford