I came across an article in Outreach magazine written by one of my favorite pastor authors, Dan Kimball. Kimball wrote a book that changed how I viewed working in the church called “The Love Jesus but Not the Church”. In his book Kimball talked about coming to the realization that he spent all of his time with Christians and soon began trying to work outside of the church in order to meet people who were not inside the church.

The article Kimball wrote is called “Why I’m Thankful for the New Atheists” and discusses how the internet has allowed people access to atheist ideas that they may have never been exposed to. Kimball writes that he believes this is a good thing because it prepares Christians for the arguments they may face when talking to someone who doesn’t believe.

The point that Kimball ultimately makes is that:

Having said all that, I fully know that despite all our studying, preparing and counterarguing, our human arguments and reasoning will not persuade someone to embrace faith in Christ. It truly helps, but ultimately only God’s Spirit will convince someone of the truth of Scripture. And as much as we need to study and have knowledge, we need to remember that our lives must demonstrate the truth of Scripture. We cannot allow greater intellectual knowledge to lessen our Christian compassion and love for others.

Kimball’s point here really spoke to me because this has been something I’ve come to realize lately. In dealing with a deeply personal and hurtful issue with someone who believes differently than me, I’ve found myself at a sort of a crossroads. I could either choose to end the friendship and walk away or I could truly embrace what I believe and put my faith into action.

After a lot of soul searching and questioning, I have decided to do that latter. I have chosen to let the love, grace and forgiveness that God has lavished on me become who I am. It’s funny, but I’ve never been more at peace with who I am. I now find myself not dwelling on the hurt that I once felt, and I no longer look at this person in the same way either.

Before introducing the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18, Jesus has the following interaction with Peter in verses 21-22: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.'”

As Christians, we cannot always convince someone else to believe what we believe. And continuing to argue with them or completely forgoing the relationship is not the answer. All we can do pray for the person and allow God to reveal Himself to them in time. In the meantime, we can also pray that God will allow us to use our lives to demonstrate God’s truth and what the Bible says.

I pray daily for this person and for others I know like them. And I do hope one day they’ll come to believe what I believe. But until that happens all I can do is continue to let God work through me, and to allow His love, grace, mercy and forgiveness to flow out of me and hope that they might catch a glimpse about what this Christianity thing is all about.