Aesop’s Fables

Let me tell you a short story…
The sun and the wind were talking one day about who was the strongest. The wind could send out mighty gusts that would bend trees and even overturn tuktuks, but the sun could beat down so hard that it would melt the skin right off a water buffalo. They both thought they were the strongest and argued for several minutes until the sun had an idea. There was a man walking down the road below them, wearing a long jacket. The sun proposed his idea to the wind, “Lets have a competition to see which of us is the strongest. See that man walking below us? Whoever can make him remove his jacket is the strongest between the two of us.” The wind agreed, and eager to show his power decided to go first. The wind bellowed and blew as hard as he could. The trees began to sway, and the sky grew dark, but the man just gripped his jacket tighter and tighter in the cold wind. He was strong and powerful, but couldn’t force the man to remove his coat. Finally the wind gave up and it was the suns turn. The sun slowly began to peak out from behind the clouds. His soft warm rays reached the man and he began to sweat. The sun didn’t have to use any force, because the warmth of his rays caused the man to remove his jacket. So the sun was victorious.

Plenty of morals right? But the obvious one is that gentleness is stronger than force. This same fable applies to the church.

The church can take one of two approaches to reach the world. They can follow the wind or they can follow the sun. The church can force Jesus at the passers by with all of their might, shouting that they need to repent soon or they will die! Or, they can welcome them into the warmth of the suns rays, and gently use love as the greatest form of persuasion.

We are in the middle of a battle. It’s not just a competition to see who is the strongest, it’s a life or death battle with the enemy over the souls of those around us. We are armed with many weapons. We have the word, we have our testimonies, we have prayer, and we have the spirit within us! But we often forget about our greatest weapon. Love. Love breaks down walls, love opens hearts, and love heals brokenness.

The world is broken. They are hurting. They’re neglected, abandoned, rejected, and they feel unloved. Unworthy to ever be a child of God. We need to start reaching out to them with open hearts full of love instead of condemnation. It’s not our job to change anyone, that’s God’s business. Our only job is to show them his love. Based on the churches reputation right now… We’re not doing the best job. Let’s put aside our reputations, our fears, and our assumption that we have to “convert” people. Let’s just accept them where they are and show them the love that we have received.

I challenge you to be the love of Christ to someone today. Anyone. Your family or a random stranger. Show them the perfect love that God has shown us, even if they don’t deserve it.