About a month ago, the local paper interviewed me. It was a good interview, and they told our story pretty well. But the reporter opened the article by saying that Love Wins is best defined by what we do not do – we do not proselytize, we do not push people to church and we do not distribute tracts. All of that is true.
Several people told me they could no longer support our work financially because we do not “share the gospel”. Others accused me of being ashamed of Jesus and said we should be much more up front with the “good news”.
Let me tell you a story.
She’s 24, but could pass for 16. She’s rail thin, with prominent cheekbones and dusty brown hair cut almost as short as mine. She grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, but for the last year has lived in a tent south of town. Let’s call her McKinsey.
When she was 17 years old, she told her mother that she thought she might be gay. Distraught, Mom went to her pastor, who told her that the thing to do was to exercise “tough love” and put McKinsey out – to shun her, if you will – until she repented.
Since then, she has lived by her wits. For the last six years, she has survived mainly by turning tricks. Somewhere along the way she picked up an alcohol addiction. She has been sexually assaulted more times than she can count, and sleeps in her tent with a steak knife under her pillow for protection.
My question for you is this: If you are McKinsey – Who do you get mad at? Do you get mad at your mother, for throwing you out? At the preacher for telling Mom to do it? Or do you get angry at the God that preacher is supposed to speak for?
If you are her, and you see God as having caused all this, you probably won’t react well when someone comes up to you and tells you God loves you – however true that might be.
So I did none of that. Instead, I sat with her on the park bench as she held her cardboard sign. I listened for hours as she talked about all the anger she held for her mother and for God. She laughed when I told her a joke she had already heard the day before, and I laughed when she described me to someone else as “her preacher”.
And earlier this week, I was looking very out of place in the woman’s section of Wal-Mart using your money to buy size small sports bras, while trying to not answer embarrassing question from the clerk about cup size and so on. Because McKinsey had no one else who would go for her.
After all this, McKinsey still is not a Christian. And in truth, she has been so burned by the church, I’m not sure that is ever going to happen. But had I “Led with the good news”, I would have eliminated any opportunity for the friendship McKinsey and I now have. And if I had let that happen, you couldn’t call me a Christian, either.
As St. Francis said “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
I support Love Wins BECAUSE it does not “share the gospel” in terms that many would be familiar with. Lives are being impacted by the work done by Love Wins, it goes far beyond the physical needs of the poor and the homeless. How could this NOT be “sharing the gospel?”
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
I think that about sums it up. Being with people is preaching the gospel. There are no stories of Jesus or the Apostles handing out tracts.
Hugh,
Your story was a wonderful example of leading with love, not with judgement. I believe that is the “narrow way” Jesus walked, and the way be has called us to as well.
I read your post yesterday. Today I was reading over a devotional guide for our youth retreat next week and the scripture selection struck me as a perfect compliment to this story.
1 Peter 3:15 (in the NIV) reads: “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the answer for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
Certainly, in this situation, “gentleness and respect” are what must come first, so that McKinsey might one day find a hint of the hope that you have, hope for her, and for all of us, in Christ Jesus.
Thanks for sharing.
As a word of encouragement, I thought you might like to hear the rest of this passage. From the NET:
1 Peter 3:15-17, “But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil.”
Thank you thank you. What a kinder place this world would be if more Christians were like you. I am not a Christian but feel in alignment with the love of Jesus’s teachings, as well as the love of other spiritual teachings in the world. Thank you!