What I realized is God does not see sides. The verse popped in my head where Paul declares that we are the buildings of God. The image that polluted my mind's eye was that we are all God's buildings. Each and every one of us was designed and built to be the inhabited by a loving God. The truth is that agnostic, Islamic, Buddist, or whatever faith group that the "them" of our conversation exists in, does not change the fact that they are spiritual real estate designed and constructed to be inhabited by a living and live-in God. The "thems" might be looked at better as abandoned or empty buildings, space God is looking to purchase with the price of the cross. Maybe our view of the "thems" is not as opposition but space that God desires to live in.
To take it one step further, we are not space for lease. We do not let God just occupy the space as a renter but we surrender ownership of heart and life to God. I remember as a teenager kicking God out from time to time so that I could turn my building into whatever I wanted it to be - brothel, nightclub, cigar shop. That is not God's plan. Faith in Christ is giving over all ownership rights to Jesus, who is designer, engineer, contractor, constructor of who you are. Who better to own the building than the one who out of love designed it, built it and paid for it.
Who lives in your spiritual real estate?
