Sharing Christianity

Patience is better than pride (Ecclesiastes 7:8).

A missionary was visiting India. He met a native who was a strict vegetarian; this man valued all forms of life and refused to kill in order to eat. The missionary was a bit of a naturalist; he had brought a microscope to India with him. So he made a slide using a drop of water from the vegetarians’ drinking cup. He had the Indian peer into the eyepiece; the microscope revealed all sorts of tiny organisms swimming around in the water the Indian had been drinking. This revelation infuriated the vegetarian; he smashed the microscope into pieces and threatened the missionary with similar treatment.

The Indian man believed that all life is sacred. Being a strict vegetarian was his religion. But the missionary knew that the only way to please God is by believing in Jesus, who died to forgive our sins. So the missionary tried to make the vegetarian abandon his religion by showing that he was killing tiny living things every time he took a drink of water. The missionary meant well, but what he did backfired. He showed the vegetarian a truth that man did not want to face. Instead of abandoning his religion, the Indian grew hostile and unwilling to listen any more.

Nobody likes being told they’re wrong. If we have any trace of pride in ourselves, we resent criticism. We believe that we are right and other people would do well by listening to us. This is why husbands fight with wives. This is why conservatives fight with liberals. This is why pride is a terrible sin. God hates pride, because pride won’t let us admit that we are wrong. Pride keeps us from going to Jesus to be forgiven. Pride separates us from God and damages our relationships with everyone else.

Jesus is the only way to escape sin, death, and hell. He tells us to share this important message with people of other faiths. But you can’t tell someone their religion is wrong and expect a postive response. Peter says, do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). When we talk to someone who does not believe as we do, Paul says to correct their false beliefs with great patience and careful instruction (2 Timothy 4:2). We have no call to be arrogant—we make plenty of our own mistakes every day, and we don’t deserve the mercy that God has shown us through Christ—it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:5). Don’t put other people on the defensive; start by telling them how Jesus has changed your life for the better. Invite them to come with you to worship or Bible study. Give Jesus time to soften their hearts, so they become receptive to His Lordship.