I almost died today

So I'm at the YMCA this morning doing a little cardiovascular torture. I started on the bike, not something I do very often, but I'm trying to trick my body and use different muscle groups. Next I moved to the treadmill and pretended to be a runner. It was a good workout, but that's not the reason I almost died.

While running to nowhere on the treadmill I was listening to a leadership podcast/interview with Rick Warren. I'm running away when he says this:

You cannot win your enemies to Christ, you can only win your friends.

At that moment I almost fell off the treadmill and died.

Now, I know I'm being a tad bit dramatic, but that's profound. That's good stuff. I think Christians in America are making more enemies than friends. Think about it: So often we are so busy standing for what's right, fighting for our rights or crusading against moral impurity that we forget our primary mission. We're commissioned to make disciples.

Too often, however, we've just made enemies.

What if instead we started making friends. Like with those people who don't agree with you... what if you became their friend. Like with "that group of people" who does "that horrible sin"... what if you just became their friend? What if you had them over for dinner?

Obviously, making enemies hasn't done much to change the world for the better. Maybe it's time we started making friends.

That's one thing I'd like Hub City Church (as a group of people, not a Sunday event) to be known for: Friend of sinners, friend of the city, friends.