Friday, September 25, 2009

With love, We direct

I was watching a commercial of a car pulling up to a toll booth and the driver asked the employee for directions. With a smile the employee politely raised his arm to which direction to go and then gave quick detailed ways to get there. The driver thanked the employee and drove away. This was a commercial for a new car (which is totally irrelevant). This employee knew the proper directions and was more than happy to give them. He was not born with map quest hardwired into his brain, he had to learn. Either by traveling there himself or getting barked at for giving bad directions at some previous time. Lets change this story around. Say the man working the booth has no idea how to get to the place the driver wants to go. Having a personal panic attack he carelessly gives random directions because he felt he needed to sound like he knew what he was talking about. How do you think that driver is going to react when later on down the road he finds himself completely off course and lost. If your still taking the time to read this (which I hope you are) lets change this story for a 3rd time. Say once again the employee has no idea where the driver is trying to go. The toll booth operator takes a deep breath and says “Buddy, I don’t know the answer to that one right now, I apologize for the inconvenience.” The driver now has the opportunity to pull over to a local area and get directions from someone who may be able to help him.

Like the situation with the driver and the toll booth worker Christians tend to answer questions they don’t know the answer to in a careless manner. If there is one thing you don’t want to do its give a non-believer bad information simply because you wish to appear knowledgeable about your faith. The best response for those difficult questions sometimes is “I don’t know but I’d like to find the answer with you”. There are times when the Bible is silent on an issue, and it’s best not to hazard a reply that might not have a scriptural basis. In the book titled “The Unexpected Adventure” Mark Mittelberg once said “ None of us, however, knows the answer to every possible question a skeptic might raise. When a seemingly unanswerable issue confronts you, remember that Christianity has withstood similar challenges for two millennia.” I’ve caught myself in the “I don’t know” situation plenty of times, but I remembered the challenge or difficult question I faced and later found answers to it and thanked God for once again blessing me with a piece of his infinite wisdom. 1 Peter 3:15 says “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have”. Now just dishing out information to someone then pushing them aside does nothing to help them. Lets go back to the toll booth worker. When he gave the directions the first time he did I politely and gave detailed help. That’s what we as Christians are called to do sharing the Love of God to everyone bring glory to him alone. Psalm 145:13 says “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.” Remember that… The Lord is loving to ALL he has made.

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