When we thing of changing other's heart and mind, we are really just trying to persuade others to agree with us. We think that our way of thinking should be everyone else's. Their morals should be like ours so they can be as good as us. We measure people by how they differ from us or how they are the same as us. Anyone that doesn't fit our definition of “like me” gets challenged.
How do we change the heart and mind of others? It isn't our job to change others heart and mind. Am I crazy for saying that?
Have you ever seen anyone decide not to get an abortion because someone protested outside of Planned Parenthood? When was the last time you told someone that being gay was a sin and turned them straight?
As Christians we have a real problem with how we interact with others. Instead of leading people to Jesus, we preach to them. We don't preach the gospel about how Jesus came to save us from our sins. We preach the gospel of “you need to” and “you should”.
Outspoken Christians are not changing other's heart and mind.
Almost all Christians agree that the world is moral decay. We come to this conclusion for a myriad of reasons. One thing I can tell you for sure is Christians are contributing to the moral decay of the world.
Wait, stop! You can't be serious.
I am serious. Instead of following Jesus's example, we are using Bible verses to push our agenda. We cannot change other's heart and mind by trying to Biblically manipulate people. This is a hard fact for some Christians to swallow.
Pastors preach on how homosexuality is a sin. Do they know that they are directly talking to some members of their congregation? The person who you point out as a homosexual to the right of the guy that got drunk last night and beat his wife. He is sitting to the left of the guy that got done looking at child pornography in the morning. Right behind the lady that cheated on her husband. In front of the guy that ate himself to 500 pounds committing the sin of gluttony.
How do we change a heart and mind?
I have no problem with pastors having sermons on any issue in the Bible. What I don't understand is why more churches are not concerned with salvation? If we lead people to Christ, he will work in peoples lives. It is not our job to judge and go on a moral war path. We are wasting our energy on telling others how they are wrong.
Christians have spent too much political capital fighting the wrong battle only to loose the war. How about we change the way we are Christians?
Instead of protesting the Planned Parenthood visitor, how about we reach at risk youth before they get pregnant. Instead of telling someone that it is a sin to be gay, how about we show them who Jesus is.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Lets focus on building new Christians instead of judging people. After accepting salvation, peoples lives will be transformed. The only way we are going to change the world is by leading one person at a time to Christ.