Genesis 1:3
Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light.
When I was a youth minister I had a teen who was on fire for his faith. He would constantly get into arguments about his faith at school. One day he asked me why he wasn't making any headway in showing these kids how wrong they were so that they could find salvation. I asked him why he always started conversations about faith from a point of disagreement? Wouldn't it be better to first find out what he had in common with the person he was trying to share the faith with and then go from there?
I told him of a recent conversation I had with a Hindu fellow. Have you ever heard of the "Om"? It's the sound they use during meditation. They believe "Om" is the sound God used to create the universe. Even though the Hindu religion has many god's, they believe that one god created the universe. As a Christian I also believe that God created the universe. Now that we have a common belief we can begin to have a discussion about faith.
In this day of social media disagreement and division throughout our culture I think it's hard for us to remember to find common ground. Sometimes we have to get back to the simplest understanding of humanity before we can share the Love of God with those around us. Next time you are tempted to get into a huge theological argument on Facebook, or even in person, don't forget the power of common ground.
P.s. the young man from this story was ordained to the priesthood in May of 2015!
