I’ve been reading this book called Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren. Although I am finding it really interesting and quite funny in parts, I can’t help thinking often as I am reading that really what he is getting across in almost 300 pages is “Respect others and their beliefs”. I suppose that for today’s convoluted generation it takes 300 pages to get that simple message across.
I met a guy today at the food bank where I volunteer on Tuesdays that really got me thinking about how completely jaded my generation is.
His name is Pedro and he is about (I’m guessing) 60. I worked with him in the dispensary sorting out bags of fruits and vegetables that will be given out to families tomorrow. Pedro is SUCH a character. He is very passionate about God, loves to talk, but at the same time he has a very deep sense of respect for other people. He told Andrés and I about how he had been with some Mormon missionaries early that day and that he had told them that as long as they believed in he Jesus of the Bible then he considered them brothers. He listened to them patiently, watched their video and asked them loads of questions about the book of Mormon. He prayed with them, prayed for them and encouraged them to read their Bibles. But he didn’t get into an argument with them, respected them at all times and encouraged them to seek truth in the Bible. He even said that he wasn’t sure if they would be in heaven or not. He wasn’t convinced that God would hold them responsible for their own ignorance since that wasn’t necessarily their fault but their leaders’ fault.
What impressed me was the deep respect that he had for their beliefs and for the beliefs of anyone simply because they were made in the image of God and therefore worthy of his respect. Man, have we lost that in this generation. I wanna find that and see it multiply across this generation.