False Hope

As a Christian, I've come to find that sometimes, being honest can be offensive. I hear people stand on the streets and scream at people to turn from their sins or they will burn in hell. Although aspects of this are true and the unsaved will not have eternal life, this approach doesn't usually have people running to the sanctuary.

When I used to work at CVS, sometimes customers would come in asking if a particular item was in stock. I would check the back room and if the product was not there, I would tell the customer "We get a delivery in on Tuesday. Try coming back to see if it will be in." Although the customer may not be totally satisfied, he/she has a little hope that when Tuesday comes around, that product might be in. However, I knew that the order for the upcoming delivery was placed 8 weeks ago. It's very unlikely that this particular product would be in that upcoming delivery. Yet I told the customer to return on Tuesday anyway...and gave them false hope.

In a sense, I do the same when it comes to friends who have fallen off track with their relationship with the Lord. I have some family and friends who will say, "Well I go to church, that's good right?" Although it is great to go to church, if the lessons from church are not applied in life, it's almost like going to class for law everyday but getting a job in farming. You have all this information that looks and sounds nice but you do nothing with it. Yet, I find myself saying, "That's great! I'm sure God is pleased with your commitment to church once a week." I know this person can give more. I know this person can pray more. I know this person can apply the lessons they learn in church into their lives and spread the Word of God. But I tell them what they want to hear.

I want people to not only call themselves Christians but to act like Christians. But it's hard to tell someone they are slacking in their spiritual walk. But is giving false hope the answer? Is filling someone's head up with the notion that what they're doing is the best they can give and God will just forgive them of their short-comings? It is a tough question to answer. How would you tell someone they need to devote more time to God, put more faith in God, study God's Word more and give time to prayer and fasting?

How does one be blatantly honest without offending? A question I'd love to seek advice on.

Blessings