Who Gets to Decide?

Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Acts 10:28 (NKJV)

One Good Friday, I went to a church whose program had been highly recommended to me. Everything was going well. The service was well-organized, the content excellent. Everything was perfect. But the arrival of an old man ruined everything. He was a drunk. Although he was well-dressed, we wondered where he could have possibly been before coming to church. Everyone looked at him with contempt. Their attitude toward this old man truly disappointed me.

But that wasn't the worst of it. It was when one of the church's deacons approached him and asked him to leave, telling him he had no business being there. Even though he wasn't entirely in his right mind, it was clear he wasn't completely drunk when he came to church. Alcohol was simply an easy way for him to escape his suffering and depression. The security team refused to listen to him, even when he told them he was seeking spiritual help.

As he was leaving the church, he encountered a man who had come to attend the service. The man asked security to take the old man into his care. Without judging him or assuming he was drunk, he sat with him and listened. The old man told him his whole life story, confided his problems, and asked him to pray with him for God's forgiveness. Our way of treating others sometimes leads us to push them away when they need us most. This is precisely what was about to happen to Peter when God intervened to set him straight. It is not for you to say who can be saved and who cannot. Our responsibility is to obey God's word.

May the grace and peace of God be with you all.