Listen

Read an interesting blog post where the author shares comments from non-Christians all over the U.S. who were asked what they would like Christians to know.  It's a little depressing, but important for Christians to hear.  I don't agree with all these posts (duh) but I'm impressed (not in a good way) by the common theme in so many -- "Christians don't listen to me, they just want to impose their agenda on me."  If we're called to love our neighbors, it's important to listen to them, to show more interest in them than we do in imposing our will on them.

I firmly believe that Jesus is the core and center of God's plan for all creation, including all humanity. Or to quote the book of Acts, "there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved."  I think, though, that too often Christians are guilty of being less interested in saving people than we are in saving ourselves by making converts.  We're not good at being aware of who we are and how we come across.  (This is one of the many things I appreciated about Donald Miller's book, Blue Like Jazz, which I highly recommend.)

Here's the blog post.  I encourage you to read it!