Violating Assumptions

Assumptions are very powerful. If I assume you hate me, I will view everything you say or do differently than if I assume you love me.

Very early in my first ministry, I found myself picking up the pieces of a ministry meltdown in a small town in rural Maine. God did some miracles in the ministry and turned the town upside down with the Gospel. He gave us some great friends and we saw multi-generational families baptized together.

One Monday morning, one of the gals who was among our closest friends came into my office. She looked at my large library (A heavy necessity before the computer.) and said, "Gee, Pastor, you have a lot of books. The way you preach, I didn't think you studied that hard." My mind and emotions began to short-circuit. Was she insulting me? Were my messages that lame? I had to assume she wasn't attacking me. Later I learned that my predecessor spoke Greek and Hebrew in his sermons and no one could understand him. She was saying that I preached messages she could understand. What I assumed about her feelings toward me as her pastor impacted how I received what would otherwise be considered a slam.

What people assume about Christians will impact how they receive what we say, too. Most homosexuals assume that Christians hate them. After all, there are "Christian" people walking around with signs saying "God hates homosexuals." Most people assume that Christians are judgemental. Have you ran across any "Christians" that would contribute to that assumption. Most people assume that Christians are hypocritical, that is, they say one thing, but do another. Where did they ever get such an idea?

We need to violate these assumptions. I am asking the Lord to show me where I can show homosexuals the love of God. I am asking God to make me more compassionate and less judgemental. I want to practice what I profess. One of the things we should be listening for is the statement, "I didn't think Christians were like you are. I assumed they were . . . ." Once people know we love them, it will shake their assumptions, and they may be able to hear what we are saying. Until then we can assume they receive our words in a defensive or negative way.

Hey, face it, we didn't pay much attention to God until we learned He loved us, even while were were His enemies. Up until then, He was a big Judge who condemned people to hell. Sort of the way most of the world views Christians.

I believe this generation is going to present a transparent, compassionate Christianity that violates the assumptions of a watching world and announces the good news of redemption in the context of authentic love.

Just Thinking.