“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” -1 Corinthians 2:14
Sometimes we need God to remind us that every single person we encounter is simply human, and human with a fallen nature at that. From the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God by tasting from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they lost all ties and all intimacy with God. They lost discernment, they lost the Holy Spirit. They were spiritually dead.
Now we, who are their offspring, are born with that disconnection from God. From the moment we are conceived we are physically alive but spiritually dead until we experience rebirth and new life in Christ. While many of us are probably aware of this, we still tend to forget it in our daily interactions with nonbelievers.
Here are three reasons why we should be patient with our non-believing friends, especially when they are misunderstanding---or even offending---our faith.
1. They Know Not What They Do
Just as the Jews knew not what they were doing when they crucified the Lord God, for if they knew, they would not have done it, our non-believing neighbors often have no idea that they are sinning against the Living God when they deny Him or speak falsely of Him. Since they do not have the Spirit of God inside of them, they are unable to discern what is spiritual. They are unable to discern good from evil or evil from good. As a result, when they hear talk of Jesus and his message of salvation, which is good news---the greatest news---they consider it foolishness.
If you go to a University, if you’ve stayed awake in any high school class, if you pay attention to the media, you will often here non-believers whip out ye olde, “the Bible was written thousands of years ago by many different men. It is just a book,” argument. In fact, I heard it today in a classmate’s presentation and I succeeded in letting such a falsity harden my heart. I repent of that and am grateful that the Holy Spirit of God has directed me to this scripture in 1 Corinthians today at just the right time. He knows that we constantly need to be reminded that a life without Christ is a life that denies Christ. We should expect our non-believing friends to behave like this while they are still unsaved. It shouldn’t come as a shocker to us, and it surely should not provoke us to ungodly, unrighteous anger. Instead, it should prompt us to pray for them and love them---reactions made possible by the Holy Spirit alone.
2. We are Called To Model Christ’s Love Regardless
“But we have the mind of Christ.” -1 Corinthians 2:16
As we’ve gone over, slander against us, our faith, our God should make us itching to respond in love. Notwithstanding, we are not called to be mushy, dispassionate, pushover Christians. We can love others with a brotherly affection while still recognizing and calling out evil. But when we do so, it should be in righteousness. Slander against God should upset us. His name is Holy and it must be honored. Yet taking things personally takes the glory away from God and places it upon ourselves.
It is in these instances that we must trust God to give us the words to speak and love to pour out, for on our own we cannot do it. But if we allow Christ and His love to flow through us, if we give Him the floor to speak and minister to others through us, we then have the power to change a heart of stone to one of flesh.
3. God is Patient With Our Non-Believing Friends!
The Bible says that God is “patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 2:9).” In writing this, I was almost tempted to phrase the verse as, “patient toward [us],” but I was immediately prompted to leave the verse as is, as it already speaks volumes by addressing each one of us personally. It is so easy to point fingers at others who are not living right, but God doesn't ever want us to forget that, before we ourselves knew Christ, we too were living in sin. Yet, in all of His kindness, love, and mercy, God was patient. He was patient with me, He was patient with You, and He is and will continue to be patient with sinners. Why? Because He desires to have us. He does not want anyone one of us to face eternal death, though we all deserve it, so He waits. He waits for us and He loves us.
In the same way, we are to model that patience with our friends and our neighbors who don’t believe. I understand that not everyone who we want to see saved will receive salvation due to their own free-will, but still many will.
Keep on praying for them, keep on loving them, keep on being patient, and make room for the Holy Spirit to correct you and guide you along the way.
Praise God.
