What if

There is a great movie called the count of Monte cristo, and at one point after the man had been in prison for many years, he is talking with the priest and the priest says something about God. The count says he does not believe in God and the priest says back "it does not matter, God still believes in you".

What if that was our attitude towards the world, towards the non believer. Too often Christians find themselves in a world of judgement, a right that God never handed down to us. He alone holds that right. Jesus set things up fairly easy for us, He did the work, and the holy spirit continues that work, our job is really to love and to have compassion. To always remember every unbeliever, every hurting person, every lost soul is a son or daughter that God still believes in. Each and everyone of them is a soul that God himself created and loves, and that he is so very fond of, just as he is of you. I spent a lot of years at a church where the sinner was not loved, in fact over and over they were removed from the church. When did it become okay to replace love with judgement? Who of us can see into the heart of another. Who of us can see what plan God has for the very man you cast a side. Who knew Paul would teach Christians after killing so many. Who knew David would be the man after Gods own heart, after the sin he got caught up in. And who of us has "arrived" enough to even consider judging another? How many men and woman have walked out of prison, or away from addiction, or out of a gang, or ran from abuse, to turn out to be a pathway to God for countless others, because God will not stop believing in them. And we love the happy ending, but what has our part been throughout the story. I want my write up to be that I did my best to show compassion and that they felt love for their soul, not love of the sin, but love for the sinner. That they knew I was someone they could go to for help and for love. I want to be the same in the beginning of the story as I am in the ending. Christians are going to have to work really hard to gain back a reputation of trust and compassion. Our doors have been closed to the world, we have cast judgement and deemed people unworthy. We have taken a power away from God by not believing in the least of these. It is time to give God his place back, it is time to let God love his children and if he will, love them with our arms. So while your neighbor, co-worker, friend, child, spouse may say they do not believe in God, remember God still believes in them.

14 comments:

Christy said...

Wow! Great post! Ive been wondering when you were going to bless us with another life lesson...hehe...
I suppose that is one reason I have waited so long to go back to church...I always felt judged by people in the church. But what I have learned is God loves us no matter what and so what if others judge us...They will have to answer to God about that!
Thanks, Ive missed your posts!!!

Michelle V said...

Wonderful post! I know exactly what you mean! I remember being on a children's committee one time when someone decided they wanted to start removing any child who misbehaved in Sunday school or kids church. Are you kidding me? Being the mother of a difficult child at the time, I pretty much let them have it! ;)

Blessings
Michelle

Deborah said...

Good word, good word...yes, we've missed your posts. actually i think everyone should post EVERYDAY so i can get my blog fix!
ps. we prayed with jordan for ethan to get better and he had SO many questions about how he broke his collar bone and how it felt and on and on... :)

Hope Alexander said...

I just found your blog and was touched and in full agreement with your sentiments. Thanks for expressing the movements of grace within your heart with your readers! Please come by if you want! I am certainly going to add you to the blogs I follow! Hope

Nana Net said...

Way to go... Another great post. Glad to see you are back to bloggin!
For me I have always been one who "Believes" everyone has the right to be what they want to be, and so forth! Even though I may not agree with some things, I still am not going to judge nor turn my back on anyone. For that is not my job to do! Instead I have always tried my best to let whoever know that I am there for them no matter what!

Leslie said...

I really needed that!

Jeanne said...

You know I love this post! Simply love it. Compassion...what a pretty word! I do want to love everybody, the least of these and those who think they are better than the least of these(they're just harder to love) I hope this makes sense. Love you!

Angela Baylis said...

Wow! I am speechless... this is the BEST post I've read in a long time! I need those words to share with a LOT of people, starting with me. It doesn't matter if I believe in God, He still believes in me! I had to type that to get it in my soul. Thank you so much for sharing it with me this morning... AMEN!
Love you,
Angie xoxo

Rachel said...

Guess what?! The other day I was at a conference, and I saw a girl who looked like you. Guess what else?! Her name was Lori.
Crazy, huh?! I think it was God telling me to visit your blog because you were sharing another important lesson!
I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Angela Baylis said...

Did you just get a new look or is it my imagination? Anyway, I just stopped by to say hello to my good friend in Florida!
Love you,
Angie xoxo

Pat said...

Lori,
Thank you for your support of "Surrendering the Secret". I am so blessed by your understanding of this heartbreak.
I am so glad to find your blog and will visit again!
Bless you,
pat

Unknown said...

Thank you for your post. God is really speaking to me about how much it breaks His heart when someone rejects Him. But, He keeps giving chances to those people. He gave me lots of chances before I accepted His gift of salvation.

Thank you Lord.

Sheryl

Sonya Lee Thompson said...

I'm so glad that God never gives up on us! His love is never failing. We cannot even fathom that.

Great post, nice to meet you!
Sonya

About Nancy said...

Great post. This is my first visit and it was a pleasure. See you again soon.