In the context of business dealings and financial transactions, Jesus said, “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” (Luke 16:8) I think this principle of shrewd insight extends to many areas of life as the world stumbles upon truth. Man is made in the image of God and although much has been marred by the Fall, he is still able to think and come up with sound reasoning on many matters.
The people of the world may not be able to comprehend the amazing facets of the gospel, or see the wisdom and power of God in the cross of Christ (1 Cor 1:18-25), but they can make statements which are entirely accurate and true on a whole host of issues. For example, the unbelieving car mechanic may know a whole lot more about cars than you or I do. That is why, when my car is not working properly, I take it to him rather than a pastor. In fact, I dont even ask the mechanic if he is Baptist, Presbyterean or charismatic; nor do I ask for his views on end time events in the book of Revelation. His personal beliefs are immaterial to me. I simply ask him if he can find out what is wrong with the car and if he can fix it. Now after he finishes the job, along with my payment, I may well enclose a thank you note and a Christian tract sharing the gospel. I do care about his soul. However my point is that his personal beliefs play no role at all in determing whether or not I hire him to fix my car.
There is a phrase, “If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, its yours forever. If it does not, then it was never yours anyway.” I think that’s true. When it comes to parents with a wayward adult child, the sincere offer of friendship, or even matters of the heart and romance, I believe as the song says below, “you can’t control an independent heart.” While expressing your continued love and affection for the person, its very important to free them from any sense or feeling of imprisonment. Let them feel as if they can fly like a bird in the sky – and maybe one day, in the providence of God, they will fly back to you.
The singer Sting is no Christian, but I think he hit the nail on the head, so to speak, in this song (below). Concerning it, he once wrote, “This song was… an antidote to the brooding issues of control and surveilance that haunted ‘Every Breath You Take.’ Perhaps the highest compliment you can pay to a partner is ‘I don’t own you–you’re free.’ If you were to try to possess them in the obvious way, you could never appreciate them in the way that really counts. There are too many prisons in the world already.”
Here’s “If you love somebody… set them free”:
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends.