Ready:
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."
-Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)
Set:
There's a scene in the classic baseball movie "Major League" in which the team is having a bad flight on a below-standard airplane. During that scene, pitcher Eddie Harris, who professes to be Christian, notices his Buddhist teammate, Pedro Cerrano, crossing himself. Instead of rejoicing in the fact that Cerrano is looking towards Christ in this time of struggle, Harris berates him with these harsh words, "Oh, now you come around. He isn't fooled."
Harris saw what Cerrano did as "convenient." Is this a problem? Someone decides to accept Christ in a time of struggle. Harris should have been singing Hallelujahs, but instead, he's bitter about it. Why? Because Cerrano has waited until a time of struggle to accept Christ. Harris doesn't think it's fair for him to have God's grace because he wasn't on board all along.
There are a lot of Christians out there today who have the same mindset of Harris. Instead of wanting everyone saved, some feel that there are people who don't deserve to be saved. There are people who feel they're better than everyone else because they're Christian. They don't feel that they need to help those who aren't already Christians.
God commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, but so often we seem to do what Harris did. We think we're better and more deserving of what God has done for us because of how we've lived our lives. The truth is, Jesus died on the cross so that everyonewho believes in Him will have eternal life. Not only that, but as Christians we are supposed to preach the Good News to all nations and to be patient with everyone in love, just as Christ is patient with us. Quoting the Christian rock band Sanctus Real, there is "no one too lost for us to love, no one too lost for us to serve."
Go:
1. Do you ever find yourself thinking you're better than someone because of the way her or she lives his or her life?
2. Do you make a point to love everyone as Christ has loved you?
3. What can you do to go out of your way to help those who aren't saved?
Workout:
Matthew 7:5
Hebrews 13:25
1 John 4:12