Yet, seconds later, in stepped two well-dressed young gentlemen who I had never seen in my entire life. I mean, I know I've been away at college for a year, but since when did my parents start hanging out with these guys? Well in actuality, they were two men of the Mormon faith who had apparently stopped by my house a couple weeks earlier on their door-to-door rounds, and my parents had invited them back to continue their discussion.
But here's the thing. I'm not writing this to tell you that I initially found it strange that my parents had befriended these fellows. I'm writing this to tell you how strange it is that I found it strange -- and how awful it is. Why must interactions such as these be out of the ordinary, strange, awkward, annoying, uncomfortable? You see, I'm not a Mormon. I am a Christian; I will openly & boldly proclaim that. But I fear that all too often we believe that any and all interactions involving people with different beliefs have to be solely founded on an attempt to convert them to our viewpoint. And while this can totally be a goal, we usually try to get there in all the wrong ways. We have this misconstrued perception that we must shove our religion down their throats, an overly eager and desperate attempt to save them. But frankly, I think we're missing the point. We're doing more losing than saving.
Because you know what? As those guys walked into my house last night, they saw the Cleveland Indians logo on my dad's sweatshirt and started talking to him about baseball. What does that have to do with anything, you ask? Well, here's what I'm getting at. They didn't step into the room and say, "Alright, let's get down to business. Only theology from here on out." NO. They talked about life; they talked about the latest happenings; they partook of an opportunity to share and enjoy and love each other -- in the simplest, humblest of ways. Most of the time, I think door-to-door missionaries (or whatever it is they might choose to call themselves) are met instead with encounters such as these: people who shut them out completely [often in cruel and/or condescending ways] and people who try to make it appear as if they're doing the right thing by inviting them in -- but are only doing this to scoff at the religion's perceived flaws and then to fiercely convert them, whatever the cost.
But neither of those really do any good. Believe it or not, if you actually sit down and talk with them as though they're real human beings, it turns out that they are, in fact, real human beings. Imagine that! This is not to say that the conversation was completely void of faith talk last night. Nah, we dug into Scripture and explored such things as the freedom in Christ offered in Galatians 5. We got comfortable with each other and were able to talk openly and ask the deeper questions without feeling weird. Plus, I think it's important to note that all the things you learn from videos in your high school world religions class are not fact. And all the things you see on tv shows like "Sister Wives" are also not fact. You glean so much more when you talk to others personally.
Far too often, we approach people of different faiths with the mindset that they are people of different faiths, not simply people. We fight battles that don't need to be fought, and in the process, lose out on opportunities to form incredible relationships that - dare I say it - are much more likely to truly affect people.
So hey, love people. Love 'em for who they are and who they're not. Love 'em for what they bring and what they don't. Love 'em for their immense capabilities and perhaps immense shortcomings. Love 'em right now, in the present, not merely in the hopes of what they might be later. Embrace opportunities to love. Because Jesus Christ would have it no other way.
Can I get an amen?
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