Acceptance

Acceptance

 

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley & Stuart Hall from their book Max Q, and the Scripture is John 13:34-35  "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Many unbelieving teenagers feel unaccepted by the church.  Christ didn't make people feel that way.  As Christians we believe that certain things are right and certain things are wrong, and we have difficulty accepting people who are doing the wrong things.  We think that accepting them means lowering our standards.  But Jesus wasn't lowering his standards by accepting sinners.  He wasn't condoning people's behaviors or lifestyles by loving them.  He was simply doing just that:  loving them.  He loved them so much that he hated what sin was doing to them.

 

North Point Community Church is full of people who disagree theologically with us.  It's full of people who are over their heads in lifestyles and habits that are contradictory to God's design.  Our youth ministry is full of these kinds of teenagers. Yet they like us.  They want to be around us.  They appreciate and reciprocate the acceptance that we show to them.  And as a result, we are able to continue to pave a path of influence in their lives and draw them nearer and nearer to faith in Christ.

 

The inability of the church-at-large to accept people who are different-whether in appearance, belief, or behavior-says more about our insecurities than it does our spirituality.  Lost students don't become more hungry and thirsty for God by having our students reject them.

 

Acceptance leads to influence.  We close down around rejection, and we open up when we feel accepted.   Teenagers not coming to faith in Christ are a sign that unconditional acceptance and love are missing.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining