South Fellowship describes faith in Christ as “Living in the way of Jesus with the heart of Jesus”. The book of Matthew unpacks what that means for believers as we relate to those who don’t believe. Perhaps Jesus’ instructions can be simplified to: while living transformed lives, we need to learn to “read others in the room”.
Before talking about how Christians ought to relate to non-believers, we need to be transformed by our faith. The parable in Matthew 13:45-46 beautifully describes the joy of someone who has found faith in Christ:
… the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Not only did the man immediately recognize the pearl was a great treasure, he was willing to sell all he had to buy it. The discovery transformed his view of all of his possessions and of his purpose in life.
What do we think the next chapter in that man’s life might have been? How did he live after finding and obtaining the pearl of great price? In Matthew, Jesus spells out clearly what faith in Him should not look like, again using pearls to illustrate: He tells His disciples: “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” (Matthew 7:6.) While it might have seemed like sharing the pearl of faith with everyone is the most appropriate thing to do, Jesus tells us not to “give pearls to pigs”. Dallas Willard, in his book, The Divine Conspiracy, interprets this passage as: believers need to be discerning in the way they share their faith. Just as a hungry pig would reject a string of pearls, someone who isn’t interested in the gospel or who has other felt needs, may reject our “pearls”. Jesus is telling us to “read the room” as we encounter others. We should not try to share insights that mean a lot to us without understanding where others are coming from.
Does this mean we need to camouflage our beliefs in some circumstances? I don’t think so. We need to remember that Jesus is with us and that following him is our primary commitment. We need to remember not to be conformists:
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
Here’s how I interpret Jesus’ teaching: Some of my good friends are atheists. I am completely open with them about how I could not live without my faith. At the same time, I don’t try to persuade them to believe. Here’s an example that happened (again!) today. One of my friends is easily bored and she will often say: “I want to be just like you. I’m working on appreciating everything around me just like you do”. I‘ll say, “To be perfectly transparent, I can only experience this level of joy and contentment because of what Christ is doing in my life. My joy isn’t about me or my personality or a technique.” And then she’ll reply, “But atheists can be happy too! I don’t need God to be happy.” And I’ll respond: “I completely agree. Atheists can also be happy. But I couldn’t have this joy without Jesus.” It’s amazing how often we’ve had this same conversation about respecting my friend’s boundaries.
by Sherry Sommer
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