fr http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/god-our-generation/gospel-not-behavior-control-program
...we often put our energy into changing
others’ behavior, rather than introducing them to this astounding grace.
I know I am far more comfortable when people do what I believe they’re
supposed to be doing. And although it’s a complicated formula, I suspect
I’ve desired it with more passion and energy than I have desired that
the same individuals truly encounter God’s great love for them as they
are.
The love that is meant to mark us as Christians is meant to receive
people in the generous and gracious way Jesus received people.
To receive an “other” as they are, without first mandating behavior
changes, requires us to tolerate a bit of anxiety or discomfort. It
demands that we release, or at least relax, our natural impulse to
announce our opinions. To receive another as they are, and not as we
wish them to be, is to agree with the apostle Paul’s conviction that it
is God’s kindness that leads to repentance.
This is the guy who, ignoring the opinions of others, bee-lined toward those His culture had identified as sinful.
Before He ever suggested, “Go and sin no more,” Jesus first welcomed and received unrepentant sinners.
