relationships with who?!

Today our pastor said something that I don't recall ever hearing from the pulpit: "Go spend time with non-believers."

Growing up in a small, conservative Christian community, this wasn't encouraged, and as I've grown up some (a little bit, anyway), I've had to work through this, especially raising two kids of my own.

I get it: we want to protect our children's hearts and our own hearts so that we are not influenced by the outside world and become just like it. We still want sin to be a shock, not just something we get used to seeing on a regular basis (which, honestly, I see sin pretty regularly in my own actions soooo I'd say we're not really avoiding it, especially since we all have that "sinful nature"). And I do understand the value of relationships with like-minded Christian friends.

However, our ultimate purpose here on earth is to reach other people and tell them about God's grace, which seems pretty impossible to do if we are spending all our time with the people who have already received this grace. 

I'm not suggesting it's time for all of us to go hang out in bars and such, but maybe it's time to stop being so judgmental of other moms at school and to start cultivating relationships with the tough ones. Or to spend a few extra minutes talking with the gal taking your order at the restaurant. Or to go out on a limb and chat with a new set of parents at your kid's baseball game. Or reaching out to that co-worker. And especially teaching our children how to stand strong in their faith, but to be a good friend to anybody. (Life lessons, people, life lessons.)

I've got a variety of friends in my life. Christians, non-Christians, people who might be Christians but I'm not sure yet - pretty much whomever God puts in my path and prods me to build a relationship with. Not because I'm priming any of them to say the sinner's prayer, but because I happen to like all kinds of people and I know God can use me to plant a seed. Seeds are easy - a word, a deed, living a life of example, following God's prompting. I can do that. The rest of it is up to God.

But to plant that seed, there has to be a relationship first, right? 

Time to step out of the comfort zone....

KC