How do we engage people who seem to just refuse to see what's right in front of them?

Steven Covey once said, “We see the world, not as it is is, but as we are - or, as we are conditioned to see it.”

Many people today have been conditioned to believe something about Conservatives that completely misrepresents our hearts, actions, and intentions…

A family friend of ours, who loves to argue his points with logic, used to be a staunch atheist and we got into many “friendly conversations” about God and the Bible… which usually led to him becoming unfriendly and me a little frustrated.

He got unfriendly because he had a hard time refuting my defense of Christ and I got frustrated because I didn’t understand why he just didn’t “get it.”

(Sound familiar?)

He grew up in a violent home, was abused, his dad was an avid drug user and alcoholic… and his stepmom struggled with mental health issues and had some violent tendencies (she stabbed him one time because she was pissed).

He got into a lot of fights in school, smoked a lot of weed, and became an alcoholic himself after joining the army.

His first marriage was a mess and his alcoholism would end up being a huge factor in ruining his second marriage…

But we were there with him through as much of it as he allowed us to be.

He and I continued to have our “friendly conversations” about God and one day out of the blue… he asked if he could come to church with us.

Long story short, after two weeks of coming to church, he gave his life to Christ.

That never would’ve happened if we would’ve just said, “he’s an atheist, he’s the enemy,” and written him off as such.

He was a product of his environment, (like most of us are), and it took Donna and I exercising patience, love, and grace in order for us to plant those seeds.

And maybe that’s something we all need to keep in mind…

It’s not necessarily up to us to change people - that’s not our job.

But it is up to us to plant seeds, water those seeds, and tend the garden…

That’s stewardship.

And we simply can’t do that if we’re labeling people as the enemy just because they hold different views than us, whether politically or religiously.

We do all we can do and then allow God to change the hearts and minds of people… especially allowing God to change us.

Or as John Quincy Adams so eloquently put it: “Duty is ours; Results are God’s.”

Earlier today, a friend of mine, Wendy Yockey, said that "communication is key, and we don’t have to compromise our principles to do it."

I agree with her wholeheartedly!

I would also like to add that HOW we communicate is equally important.

HOW we communicate can either build bridges or burn them down.

Earlier this year, my Congressman, Dan Crenshaw, had an opportunity to exercise humility and build a bridge with a first-time voter when he was confronted by a young lady named Lanah at the Montgomery County Tea Party meeting…

But instead, he burned a bridge because (in my humble opinion) he simply doesn’t care.

This is quite disconcerting that he and most of our elected officials on both sides of the aisle seem to care so little about what their constituents are saying and how they're feeling.

However...

As God-fearing Conservatives, we do care... and we cannot afford to allow the evil in this world to take that from us.