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Something important happened at a park gathering today. Between the music and playground chaos, a young woman who helps with our children asked a question that made me stop and think: "Why are you different from other Christians?"
The question came after she'd made an unexpected comment about how some girls at the gathering dressed and acted. This surprised me since her own family is fairly progressive in their views, though they're wonderful, decent people we've grown close to over the years. She's become like family to us, even attending our wedding. Her whole family has shown us nothing but kindness.
But her question revealed something deeper happening in our friendship.
I told her simply: As a Christian, I'm called to love her and everyone else as much as I can. I'm far from perfect, but my Lord is. I don't have to agree with everything or accept everything, but I should be able to speak with and show grace to those around me, demonstrating humility to the best of my ability.
It wasn't a theological dissertation. It wasn't a list of dos and don'ts. It was just the truth about how Christ calls us to live.
Her question forced me to face a hard truth: Christians have earned a reputation for being insular, hateful, and bigoted. We've become known more for what we're against than Who we're for. We've built walls where Christ built bridges.
Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. He touched lepers. He spoke with Samaritan women at wells. He didn't compromise truth, but He led with love. John 13:35 tells us, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Not by our political positions. Not by our cultural battles. By our love.
This conversation didn't happen in a church or during a formal Bible study. It happened because we've simply included this family in our life. They've seen how our Christian home actually runs: the messy reality of it, not some sanitized Sunday version.
Maybe that's the strongest evangelism of all: letting people close enough to see that following Christ doesn't make us perfect, but it does make us different. Different in how we handle conflict. Different in how we extend grace. Different in how we maintain convictions while maintaining relationships.
The early church grew not through programs but through Acts 2:46-47: "Every day they continued to meet together... They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people."
There's something powerful about simply living out your faith authentically in front of others. No agenda. No sales pitch. Just the steady witness of a life being transformed by grace, extended to all who enter your orbit.
As I think about her question, I wonder: How many people in our communities have never seen Christianity lived out in genuine relationship? How many have only encountered the caricature (the angry street preacher, the judgmental relative, the political crusader) rather than the Christ who says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28)?
Perhaps the most radical thing we can do in our polarized age is exactly what happened today: Include people in our lives who are different from us. Show them a Christianity that leads with love while holding fast to truth. Let them see that our homes can be places of both conviction and compassion.
Because when they ask why we're different, the answer shouldn't be found in our words alone, but in the patient, steady witness of lives marked by grace.
Sometimes the best sermons are preached around dinner tables, in carpools, and yes, even at chaotic park gatherings where someone feels safe enough to ask: "Why are you different?"
May we live in such a way that the answer points them to Christ.
Have you experienced moments in your own life that provided unexpected opportunities to demonstrate the difference Christ makes? I'd love to hear your stories in the comments.
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Rockefeller Kennedy
