Skip to main content

The Danger of Assuming


There were a few other people in Starbucks that day. I couldn’t tell you what those other people looked like or even where they were sitting. I couldn’t even tell you what songs played on the radio that morning. What I do remember is the joyful glow on her face. I remember the exuberance she talked with as she told her story and how God had redeemed her out of a life of prostitution, drugs, abuse, and a feeling of having no self-worth. I closed out our interview by asking her what the Church could do to more directly help sexually exploited individuals. With no hesitation she told me, “Love, don’t judge.  Accept them for their hardships. Know they’re not going to be perfect. Even if they want to give up, it’s not an easy road. Cultivate relationships; discover where people are on their journey. Don’t make assumptions, positive or negative.”

Don’t make assumptions, positive or negative. How often have we done damage in relationship because we were too quick to make assumptions? Assumptions that people can’t or won’t change; assumptions that someone is beyond hope; assumptions that people should be farther along in their journey than they are. These sorts of assumptions are damaging. They put expectations on people that are unfair and unrealistic. But these assumptions are not just damaging to individuals trying to find Christ and turn their lives around. They hinder the ability of those who are already among the believing community from freely encountering what it means to be in a grace-filled relationship with Christ.

Recently I had the blessing of attending a pastors and church leader’s conference. The majority of the attendees were already serving in ministry roles in their local church, yet at one of the sessions, the speaker ended with an invitation to receive salvation. Six people responded. After the conference I heard feedback that many of these individuals went back to their churches and received less than enthusiastic responses to their decision to really get things right with God. People in their congregations found it hard to understand how they could have been serving in ministry without truly having been “saved”. Rather than rejoicing with them and encouraging them, they chose to judge them.

These sorts of assumptions about where we believe people should be in their journeys often leads to judging and condemnation. When we choose to make assumptions about where somebody should or shouldn't be in their life journey, we not only discredit that individual but we discredit the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives. We should be asking about where their heart is and hold them accountable in a loving manner, but we should never be pushing them to a place God has not yet brought them to. As the body of Christ we should constantly be concerned with personal salvation and growth.  Our heart should always be to leads others further into intimacy with Christ. The lost are all around us, some are more obvious than others, but regardless we should rejoice as heaven rejoices when one who was lost has now been found (Luke 15). 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reflections for Election Day

It's an unfortunate reality that not only does politics divide our country, it divides Christ's church. In this blog, I'm not going to try to persuade which candidate to vote for, but rather I am going to attempt to urge any and all professing believers to vote responsibly. If you are voting (and I hope that you are) I encourage you to prayerfully consider your decision. I encourage you to use divine discernment in which candidate you mark your ballot for. Please, do not simply vote for the candidate that most benefits what your itching ears want to hear, but rather prayerfully invest in the candidate that will uphold God's standards in his leadership of this nation. Like Israel, the Christian community in America has fallen into the trap of relying on political structures to provide for our needs and even our desires. In 1 Samuel 8, we find that Israel has grown tired of the Judges and Priests that God has given to advise them and demands that they have a king. Sam...
Post a Comment
Read more

Our Father who Art in Heaven...

In the life of a Christian, a few main activities are generally thought of as necessary for spiritual health: reading your Bible, fellowship with other believers, and prayer. Reading your Bible is a key measure in learning the heart and character of God and how we are to interact and respond to Him. Fellowship with other believers gives us accountability and encouragement in our walk with Christ. Prayer at the most basic level is communication with God. It is this last spiritual "discipline" I would like to engage in discussion about for this blog. So often prayer becomes ritual or a list of "God do this" and "God fix that". In regards to ritual prayer, this is clearly missing the point of prayer. Prayer is both commanded and explempified in Scripture. Jesus Himself prayed to God on several occasions. Many of these moments He would escape the crowds that followed Him to hear His teaching and pray in private to the Father for renewed spiritual strength. In ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Christian Atheists

I recently came across a book entitled, “The Christian Atheist: Believing in God, but Living as If He Doesn’t Exist”. While I didn’t read the book, the title intrigued me and got me thinking: how many of those who call themselves “Christians” live this way? We continue to live like the small child who believes he can’t be seen simply because he is covering his eyes and can’t see his parents. We can’t see God, so it won’t matter if I indulge in a secret sin here or there, as long as no one knows, or no one sees. We proclaim a faith in Christ, but live as those His sacrifice means nothing. In my Method & Praxis class one Monday night, we were discussing Kant’s impact on theology and the modern church. Kant taught a philosophical outlook on the world that consequently reduced religion (of the Christian persuasion) to moral living and God to a Santa Claus type figure. I think this is the brand of Christianity a large number of believers have adopted. We opt for the package deal n...
Post a Comment
Read more