My reason for discussing parenting techniques in the context of how God parents us is so that we can begin to act out the positive behaviors that the Lord models so well in loving us. Last week I took Luke’s story about the two on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32) as a case in point of how the Lord’s careful listening encourages us to unburden our hearts and thereby expose our hurts to healing. Of course, the next step involves us following God’s example.
In other words, we need to be a people who listen.
I’m currently reading Philip Yancey’s Vanishing Grace in which he notes how often society at large perceives Christians as judgmental and self-righteous, noisily condemning anyone who doesn’t share their views. Even though that’s not my general experience with Christians I know, I do recognize that as the impression evoked by some of the more vocal groups calling themselves Christian, particularly in political circles. My first question – how does this happen?
Where there was once a predomination in the US of Judeo-Christian ideology, we now have a more pluralistic viewpoint, with a growing number of our youth, particularly, describing themselves as non-religious. It’s understandable for Christians to lament the loss of a societal consensus about faith, but it’s dangerous – not to mention pretty faithless – to feel threatened by it.
It may be human nature to get defensive when you feel attacked, but it’s not the advice Scripture gives us. Jesus tells us: “If someone strikes you, stand there and take it” (Matthew 5:39 The Message). This is not Jesus telling us to become doormats – as if we should view ourselves as “wimps” who can’t stand up for ourselves. Instead it is an insight from God: there are times when we will demonstrate God’s ways most clearly by not reacting as people normally do.
Peter, speaking during a time when Christians were being persecuted, exhorts: “Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives” (1 Peter 2:11-12 The Message).
In a time when fewer people believe the Gospel, our need for learning how to listen the way God does is paramount. Believing that God is the solution to the world’s problems doesn’t entail telling non-believers they’re wrong. We need to become, as Yancey so aptly says: “not guilt-dispensers, but grace-dispensers.” We show God’s grace best when we open our ears to listen and ready our hearts to feel the pain of a broken world.
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