Repentance

"Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?"
~ Romans 2:4

The word repentance is translated from the Greek word metanoia which mean to change the way one thinks. I like to use the phrase paradigm shift.

Here's why I bring this up. I like to quote this scripture when criticizing Christians who try to condemn or scare people into a relationship with Jesus. People don't need to know how crappy they are. People need to know how good God is and how much He loves and desires us. The bigness of God's love and power make our depravity obsolete. Many Christians like to point to mans depravity rather than God's goodness. Knowing how much we need a "paradigm shift" in the way we relate to God and others, I often feel such intense frustration toward Christians. Yesterday, however, this scripture popped into my head, and I had a paradigm shift. I know that those who don't have a relationship with Jesus are one paradigm shift away from becoming radical Jesus lovers, but I realized that the same is true for Christians.

First of all, I'm not perfect, but I do know that much of the way Christians in the West "do" Christianity is simply contradictory to God's nature and scripture. My cynicism is not the answer. His kindness is. From now on, when I hear or see something that is totally opposite of God's nature yet done in His name, I will remember that God's approach does not change. His kindness is the greatest catalyst of change in the way all people think.