Today at my physical therapy session, I overheard the lady next to me express her annoyance to a staff member at “those born-again Christians.” I caught only the tail end of the conversation, when she said, “They’re all a bunch of Trump-supporters and are always trying to push their religion on me. Well, I’m Catholic, and I can’t stand Trump! Why can’t they just keep their opinions to themselves? I make it my business never to discuss religion or politics!”
I couldn’t help but grin at the irony. She never discusses religion or politics, yet within the first ten seconds of hearing her voice, I knew she’s Catholic, anti-Trump, and can’t stand born-again Christians!
At that point she got up and left, and the therapist (who claims to be a Christian) worked on me a few minutes. Afterwards, I went to the facility next door to continue my personal exercise/therapy routine. I opened the door, and … can you guess who was the only other person in the room? Yep, that’s right — the cantankerous Catholic lady!
As I finished up my routine, I introduced myself to her and said, “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation next door. Would you mind telling me why born-again Christians bother you so much?”
The lady, whom I’ll call Mary, replied, “Well, for one thing, I had a former student invite me and some other neighbors over, and he started talking to us about Jesus! A bunch of my husband’s co-workers are also born-again Christians, and they’re always inviting him to a Bible study – trying to get him to come over to their side! If that weren’t enough, one born-again lady told a friend of mine that she wouldn’t bowl with me because I was a bad person!”
The more she talked, the more I could see that she had adopted an “us versus them” mentality when it came to Catholics and “born-again Christians.” Plus, she was convinced that virtually all born-again Christians were Trump supporters. (Note: According to a Lifeway Research report released last year, 56 percent of born-again Americans identify as Republicans while 39 percent identify as Democrats.)
Taking Mary’s words at face value, and believing the best about her (as love seeks to do, 1 Cor. 13:7), I responded by saying,
Mary, I’m sorry you’ve had bad experiences with born-again Christians. Some folks who wear that label don’t live it out by loving others as they should. Jesus was a friend of sinners. By the way, it was Jesus himself who said, “You must be born again.” So the term itself isn’t bad; it comes straight from the Bible. By the way, Mary, I want to give you full disclosure: I am the pastor at Webster Bible Church here in town. I am not Catholic, but I also realize that the term “born-again Christian” has become a broad label and even a political identity of sorts. That’s unfortunate. If you’re open to further conversation, I’d like to discuss what it truly means to be born again, according to Jesus.
As it turns out, Mary comes in every Tuesday at the same time I do. So I hope to share the gospel with her soon. Please pray that God would give me an open door, and Mary an open heart.
In thinking about Mary’s past experience and our conversation today, the words of the late Baptist preacher, Sumner Wemp, came to mind: “If the gospel is an offense, praise God. If I’m an offense, that’s sin.”
I’m thankful for the boldness of believers to share their faith in Christ. But we are also told to do so in a wise and winsome manner. Scripture says, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Col. 4:5-6).
Remember, too, that politics are not part of the gospel. So don’t mix the two. Otherwise, you will build a barrier that the gospel is meant to break down.
Thoughts? Comments?