15 - The Gift of Guilt

When I meet an unbeliever, I need to watch and listen in order to discern what kind of unbeliever that person is. Is this someone who has simply never heard? Is this someone who has heard but didn’t understand? Is this someone who has been taught a very distorted picture of Jesus Christ? In other words, is the “Jesus” they are rejecting the real one? Or is this someone who does know the truth but has simply chosen the world instead, or is so invested in the world (riches, pleasure, power) that they are willing to silence the voice of the Holy Spirit? We tend to make blanket assumptions about huge groups of people. We level harsh judgments and write them off as “lost,” but the truth is each person is different. Yes, some are defiant and have rejected the true God, but others are genuinely ignorant. They don’t know what’s true, and may even have done horrible things thinking they were serving God. The Bible says only God knows the human heart (1Sa 16:7). And today, as we listen to Peter appeal to a crowd gathered in the temple, we’ll hear him boldly confront them with their sin, but we’ll also hear him compassionately tell them he believes their hearts are still soft because they did what they did…in ignorance.