We Christians believe some pretty strange things.

One of the things we believe, which is at least pretty strange today in the Western world, is that spiritual knowledge is possible. We believe it is possible to be known by God, and to come to know God, and things about God. Not just beliefs, not just points of inspiration, but genuine knowledge.

This puts us in a sticky situation when it comes to our relationships with those who don’t share our Christian faith: We believe we know things that other people don’t. Not because we’re better than others in any dimension, but simply because we have been given the grace to learn these things.

It’s like we’ve been given a pair of glasses that helps us see the world differently.

Genuine inclusivity is not saying that our differences of belief don’t matter. It’s not saying, “Oh well, we can’t really know anything anyway.” Genuine inclusivity means listening to and respecting others even when the differences really do matter—even when it’s not possible for a conflicting set of beliefs to both be true.

If our friends are seeking, genuine kindness is offering the glasses to them and asking if they’d like to put them on.

Sources: Luke 11:29-32 (NIV)

1 Kings 10:6-9, 13 (NIV)

Acts 17:29-30 (NIV) Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2008). 

Friendship Evangelism: The 5 Thresholds toward Faith, InterVarsity Evangelism, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.

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