I need to apologize...

Today I feel a need to apologize for a frequent mistake we Christ followers frequently make... failure to show the God we know.   And no, I did not come up with this on my own. Tony Nolan, a youth evangelist did. However, I am claiming it as the sad truth.

I have recently been privy to 2 stories, true stories, in my own community, where fellow followers of Christ turned people away from the Lord by being judgmental. I really don't know of anything more tragic or heartbreaking. It makes me both sad & angry.

I cannot list the specific details because I don't wish to shine a light on the offenders. Also, casting stones is wrong because I am not without sin. I am sure I have turned others away from the Lord without even knowing it.

Failure to show the God we know... simply means we don't represent the love of our lives in a loving way. I think of how Jesus responded to the woman at the well. He met her where she was & revealed Himself to her. She had been with many men. That wasn't news to Jesus anymore than are my rotten sins news to Him. Zaccheaus, a tax collector who cheated people, sat high in a tree so he could see Jesus pass by. Jesus called out to him & told him to come down from that tree. He was going to his house that very day.

Then there's David. He blows my mind. He committed adultery & then had his mistress' husband murdered. Yet, he is known as a man after God's own heart. Lastly, there is Paul, formerly Saul, known for persecuting Christians. With his name change came a heart change. He gave his life to the Christ he renounced in his earlier days.

So there you have it: a prostitute, a fraud, an adulterer & murderer, & a persecutor of Christians. Yet, all came to love the Lord with all their heart & to be known as some of the "greats" mentioned in the Bible. As we Christ followers cast stones & push souls farther from the Lord, I believe we will one day have to answer for those we kept from coming to Christ. How can a person come to Christ when they are condemned before they take their first step?