1 Corinthians 9: 22 - 23
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

I have been thinking about this verse a lot this week, maybe a little in regards to the poker, but generally about how we live our lives.

I love the fact that often Jesus’ reputation was called into account because of the company he kept. How often does that happen to us?

He was called a “drunkard and a glutton” has that ever happened to us?

I am not saying we should deliberately go out of our way to be provocative but if what we do is truly relational were will we go, who will we hang out with?

I went to a party with my family here on the island a while a go, drugs were being smoked, should I have taken everybody out and gone home? We didn’t, we stayed, is that foolish? For starters no one was offering my kids drugs, people don’t do that. These people were my friends, because of their lifestyle choices should I cease to be their friend?

I had another friend who was running an alpha course, they do a weekend away, he had two gay friends coming on that weekend. He let them have a room together, was that right? Personally I would have done the same.

We are very quick to grade sin, what’s acceptable and what’s not. What gives us the right to judge. I have the right to love but not to judge.

Although if you scratched below my surface you would find I hold some very traditional beliefs, I don’t agree with homosexuality or drug use. I just think it is more about how we express love and acceptance than judging and condemning.

I was re-reading What’s so amazing about grace, there is a lovely story in there about a gay rights march and how there were quite a few Christian protesters raining down judgment on these homosexuals, in the midst of the crowd a gay guy carried a placard it read “ Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so”