Turning Bad into Good!

Taking Advantage of Hidden Opportunities in Controversy

By Jennifer Armitage -Wesleyan Life Magazine Online| Released: Jun. 24, 2011 |

Did you know that Christians are not perfect? Okay, so maybe you didn’t fall over in shock, but it’s something Christians regularly have to have conversations about. There is regularly some controversy in the news about Christians, typically having to do with a pastor’s scandal, political lobbying, or the end of the world.

We are called to witness to non-Christians in our daily lives, but there aren't clear guidelines on how to handle those conversations.

With a group of people so broad and diverse in beliefs, theology, interpretations of the Bible, meaning of religion, and even what Jesus’s teachings mean, it’s understandable that there will be Christians with whom you will not agree.

So the question becomes, how do we deal with the public controversy?

We first need to look at it as an opportunity. When conversations about Christian controversy arise at the water cooler, family reunion, or at the bus stop, it’s an opening for you to tell the truth. One of the big problems is that there are a lot of false beliefs about Christians. Through these conversations, we can start to write these wrongs.

The key to utilizing these opportunities is to bring it back to your church and your beliefs. Instead of focusing on the negative, you can guide the conversation to the truth.

When Harold Camping set a date for when he thought the world would end, it caused quite a stir. Everyone was talking about the world ending. They were, in a round-about way, talking about the Bible. What an amazing opportunity this could be to inform them what the Bible does say!

If the conversation is about Christians hating a sinner, it’s an opportunity to explain what sin really is, that God hates the sin and not the sinner, that Christianity is so much about forgiveness, and that even Christians may sin. A big, secular misconception is that Christians don’t consider themselves sinners or struggle with issues of sin.

If the conversation is about another church’s negative actions, then bring it back to what your church does. Try something like, “I really like my church because they don’t do protests. It’s cool because every Saturday my church goes out and feeds the homeless.”

By moving the conversation to positive examples from your own church, you could change minds and hearts. At the very least, you are showing that not all Christians are alike, nor do they always agree with each other’s actions.

I do want to point out that Jesus calls us to be kind and loving . . . and that means to other Christians who are doing things with which we disagree. Bashing and attacking others is not what we are called to do. No matter how frustrated we get.

None of this means that you can’t have a sense of humor about ridiculous things other Christians are doing, or that you have to talk about your church all the time. I especially don’t want people to feel that they need to be “preachy.”

My point is, we don’t have to be scared when Christian controversy comes up. We can turn tough conversations into opportunities to do our job—to introduce people to Christ.