I recently met with a friend who is a pretty staunch atheist.  Our relationship began because I happened upon him amidst a heated debate about religion.  I was hoping that I could make a show of such religion rather than a talk of it.

So we met one cold morning, and over coffee we talked about God, science, politics, ladybugs, Chevy V8s, and movies.  I listened to him, he appreciated it, and we did not argue.

I am a Bible-thumping conservative evangelical.  I believe that the Scripture is the inspired inerrant word of God, applicable to all of life.  I believe that I was created and did not evolve.  Etcetera and etcetera.  I feel quite comfortable defending all of what I believe, and I don’t even need the Bible to do so.  But I do not think that I should ever use my faith as a weapon to assault or demean others, no matter how they treat me.  I believe that the greatest proof of our religion is our love for others, not just those we like, but those we disagree with.  In fact, maybe the latter is the greatest proof.

About a thousand years ago an estimated 2 million people were killed in the name of Jesus Christ.  Because certain people groups did not agree with the faith of those in power, they were murdered.  The church has since apologized for these atrocities.  However, people of faith still seem to bow up and ball their fists at anyone who believes differently or criticizes their beliefs.

In the case of my friend, his perception was that the majority of Christian people whom he talks with not only disagree with him but express that disagreement through bashing, criticizing, and saying demeaning and judgmental things to him.  He leaves such conversations feeling like someone tried to beat him over the head with the Bible, and if he did not agree, he was left to feel uneducated and ostracized.

As I consider these things I feel sick in my gut.  Again, I am not a liberal, I believe in heaven and hell, in absolute truth, and am not afraid to say it.  Many have left my church over the years because of a pointed sermon on the Bible’s teaching on sexual immorality, the exclusivity of Christ, and other issues.

But for me or any Christian to demean someone because they disagree with or even hate us is contrary to the most basic of Biblical teaching.  Our Savior’s words to his antagonists, after quite a difference of opinions that led to Him being nailed to a piece of wood, were “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.”

He said that because he said this earlier: “If anyone hears my sayings, and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.”  John 12:47

It is quite clear that the underlying message here is one of mercy, not judgment.  This does not mean that the church should be ‘tolerant’ or pander to liberal theology.  But we should be in the presence of people that are very far from God and still be able to treat them as though God would have them very near.  That is what Jesus did over and over again.

And hey, people responded to that.  Hmmm….

Just because I can defend my faith and out-argue someone does not mean that I should.  The best representation of our belief to those outside it is not a clenched fist of attack, but an open hand of invitation.