One of the great boons God has given us in dealing with unbelievers is our ability to read their mail. That is, while unbelievers may be saying x, y or z, we know, based on Romans 1, that they are thinking a, b and c. They know there is a God. They know they stand guilty before Him. They know they don’t like it. Because we know these truths they seek to conceal from us, in our interactions we can speak to them of a, b and c rather than the x, y and z they speak to us. While there is certainly a place for answering their arguments, their arguments are not what is standing in their way.
They may say, “The God of the Bible is immoral because He ordered the utter destruction of every man, woman and child in Canaan.” What they are thinking is, “I am immoral, and God will one day bring on me utter destruction.” The answer to the first question is, “Every man, woman and child in Canaan was born under God’s death sentence because of their sin.” The answer to the second question, however, is “If you repent and turn to Christ, your moral failures will not be held against you. The God you fear will not only forgive you but adopt you and love you always.”
This also is how we ought to pray for these wretched souls. They, in their asserting x, y, or z may be attacking us, speaking ill of us, mocking and trolling us. We, however, were once such as they. We are now, by His grace, beloved of the Father. Compassion for those still in that place from which we have been rescued should be easy. That it is not is one more reason for us to repent and believe the gospel. The Apostle Paul mourned the unbelief of his kinsmen in the flesh. Should we not mourn for our kinsman in sin?
In the coming year I pray that in this space, and on social media, I will have the courage to speak boldly against falsehood. I pray also, however, that I would have the grace to speak gracefully to those caught up in falsehood. Politically, things will get heated. The folly flowing from fools will get more fallacious. Everyone else’s rhetoric is unlikely to dial down. We, however, being defended from the fear of our enemies, should be as bold as the Lion of Judah and as gentle as the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
For this reason Christ came into the world, to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10.) We, the chief of sinners, know what that means. When we speak in grace of His grace we are what we are called to be, a city on a hill.