August 20, 2025 • 21 mins
Do our churches feel more like sanctuaries or scrutiny zones? In this solo episode, Kristin Fitch invites Christian women to reflect on whether we’re truly embodying Christ’s love—or unintentionally pushing others away through judgment. Drawing from personal stories and real-life devotionals, Kristin explores how subtle cues and silent criticisms can damage our witness. She challenges us to shift from judgment to grace, creating faith spaces where everyone feels seen, welcomed, and loved—just as they are.
If you’ve ever felt heartache over how the church treats outsiders, or want to become a more open-hearted believer, this conversation is for you.
📌 Key Takeaways
- True Christian love means embracing others without preconditions, even if they don’t look, speak, or show up like we expect.
- Judgment creates walls; grace opens doors to deeper relationships and transformed lives.
- Reflecting on our tone, posture, and comments can reveal unconscious ways we make others feel excluded.
- Jesus modeled radical inclusion—our calling is to be the hands and feet of that kind of love.
- Every interaction in our faith communities is a chance to show people they matter to God—and to us.
Download My Free Joyful Living Devotional: https://kristinfitch.com/devotional
Ready to take your first step towards a more joyful, faith-filled life? Download our Reignite Your Passion Workbook and start living with purpose today!
What to feel more energized in midlife? Grab my 5 Day Energy Reset Jump Start Guide here.
Ready to work with Kristin to make a shift in your life? Click here to get started.
Christian encouragement, judging others in church, welcoming church community, how to love like Jesus, spiritual growth for women, judgment vs. grace, Christian podcast for women, loving others without judgment, church inclusion, how to be Christ-like, building faith community, women of faith, Christian mindset shifts, overcoming church hurt, becoming more like Jesus, Christian sisterhood, faith and acceptance, spiritual encouragement podcast, Christian personal growth
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hey friends, welcome back toFaithfield Woman.
Today we're going to talkabout what kind of Christian are
we?
Are we welcoming with openarms or are we a bit judgy?
Are we turning people awayfrom faith and from our lives or
are we welcoming people inregardless of where they're at on
their path?
Hey friend, are you cravingdeeper faith, renewed purpose and
(00:22):
more joy in your everyday life?
Welcome to Faith Fueled Womanpodcast that helps Christian women
grow spiritually personal,pursue God's calling, and embrace
the abundant life he has for you.
I'm Kristen, an encourager,mentor, entrepreneur, wife and mom,
here to uplift, equip andinspire you with faith filled conversations
and biblical wisdom.
(00:42):
Subscribe now so you nevermiss an episode and join our Faith
Fueled community for more encouragement.
Okay, so I've one thing I'velearned is that when I have a little
prompting, something strikesme that I'm reading or a thought
hits me when I'm walking.
I need to just stop what I'mdoing and start recording a solo
(01:04):
episode of the podcast.
The reason is sometimes I havethe thought I might write something
down, but if I wait, sometimesit's days or a week before I get
back to it or I lose some ofthe fire I guess that I have for
whatever struck me.
And so today I was reading,and I do read several different devotionals,
(01:24):
but today I was reading againcatch Catching Whimsy by Bob Goff.
And something hit me.
But I want to start with astory first and it's this.
If you've been in somebodythat's always been at church, right?
You've every week religiously,you've been going to church.
Sometimes we can forget whatit feels like to be a newbie.
(01:48):
You know, somebody that maybenever had faith and they didn't have
a relationship with God.
Maybe there's people coming tothat have moved in the area that
are new to the area lookingfor a church, maybe it's somebody
looking for a new churchbecause they've been hurt by their
faith.
There are so many peoplecoming and going, often in churches.
(02:08):
The problem is, are we beingwelcoming and inviting to everyone
or are we giving off thissense of entitlement like we're better
than other people?
Or are we judging peoplebecause of how they're dressed?
Are we judging people becauseof how they look?
Are we judging people becausethey don't show up every week, or
(02:29):
they haven't come to church in years?
I think too many of us,without realizing it, have great
intentions.
But we are judging people.
We are Judgy people.
And it's a problem.
So many years ago, when mykids were young, we, you know, consistently
went to church.
Now, we might have missed church.
I mean, there's some weekswhere we missed church.
(02:49):
We had three young kids, boys,and I remember they were going to
their faith formation classes,and they.
Maybe my oldest son, he mighthave been the only one in them at
the time, or maybe two of my sons.
My other son was too little atthe time, but one of the volunteers,
right, that was teaching hisclass made it.
(03:11):
Excuse me, made a commentlike, oh, it's good to finally see
you again or something.
But whatever it was, it cameoff as judgmental and it.
It kind of offended me.
I mean, I didn't tell anyonethat it offended me at the time,
but it bothered me and it mademe not want to go back and take him
back to the class because Iwas kind of like, you don't know
my business.
You don't know what's goingon, you know, week to week, trying
(03:33):
to get the kids out the doorto get to church.
Or maybe we had somewhere wehad to be that day or that night
for class.
And it just turned me off.
Right.
It was off putting.
And I had been going to thatsame church, you know, other than
when I was at college and things.
I went there until I was over 40.
You know, I mean, yes, theremight have been ebbs and flows where
I wasn't always as consistent.
(03:55):
So this would have been whenmy kid.
I.
It was probably my 30s, myearly 30s, when this person made
the comment.
But my point is, I wassomebody that had been part of that
church.
Actually, I. I was one of thefirst people to be one of the first
babies baptized in that church.
And this person had theaudacity to say that.
But I think we don't realizethat little jabs, even if they have
(04:16):
good intention, like maybethat guy was trying to encourage
my son, but it did the exact opposite.
It totally turned me off andmade me not want to take him back
to the classes.
So are we acting like thatperson was during my son's religious
education classes?
Are we meaning well, but thenwe make a little comment or a jab
(04:38):
like, oh, I haven't seen youin some months.
That's not helpful.
Now, what could be helpful iswelcoming them and just say, like,
hello, oh, you look great today.
You know, like, make apositive comment, a warm comment.
And so in the devotionaltoday, Bob says, find someone perched
on the periphery and pull theminto the conversation.
(05:00):
But he's basically talkingabout, you know, clicks and the cool
kids in high school, but thatthat still happens in adulthood.
And he said, unfortunately,this dynamic isn't limited to high
school.
We all have experienced thesame thing in our faith communities,
social communities and workplaces.
But he says the thing aboutJesus is that he let everyone know
they were welcome.
His message of acceptancewasn't limited to the popular or
(05:20):
talented people.
And I would add, not justtalented or popular, but he would
welcome people no matter whatthey were doing, no matter who they
were hanging with, no matterif they had ever shown up again or
before.
In other words, he welcomed everybody.
No matter if you align withthem or not.
He welcomed he would welcomeeveryone even if you don't understand
(05:43):
them.
And yet we if you ask peoplethat don't go to church, if you ask
people that maybe have gone tochurch but felt hurt or alienated
by, by churches or by rapidChristians, it's because we are off
putting so often.
So he says, here's my questionfor you.
Are you giving off a vibe ofaccessibility and availability and
(06:05):
safety, or are you one whostands off or has intermediaries
who stand between you and thepeople who want to connect with you?
And he says, I get thatavailability can create some odd
and uncomfortable situations,but Jesus evidently thought it was
worth it.
And my guess is that he stillfeels that way today.
And I think this is soimportant because this is really
a struggle for so many Christians.
(06:26):
And one of my favoritescriptures is Romans 12:13, which
says take every opportunity toopen your life and home to others.
And I want to share a coupleother things, but I also just want
to mention while I get thatthe Bible tells us to spread the
good news, right, the Gospel,I do also think that we're put there
(06:51):
for different parts ofpeople's experience to coming to
Christ.
In other words, we're not allmeant on the first interaction with
somebody to pull them in andtry to convince them that they should
have a relationship with withChrist, they should become a Christian.
Often it's going to take lotsof little interactions with Christians
with the Word, with prayers tocome to that place.
(07:15):
We may be the first person onthat train, if you will, which we're
just supposed to be an exampleof the fruit of the Spirit, an example
of what the being, welcoming,being like Christ.
And so I think we have toremember that I have known people
for years where they are stillgrappling with their faith.
And it took a long time beforewe actually had a conversation about
(07:39):
God directly.
You know, just One on one,because I wasn't force feeding it.
Like I might bring up my faithor something that I'm like how I'm
able to stay calm sometimes orpeaceful, or how I'm able to bring
it to God.
But I never tried to preach,if you will, right, with this person
because it has to comeorganically, when the person is ready,
(08:00):
in different circumstances orin different conversations, of course.
Invite people, right?
Invite them into your home,invite them to your fellowship, invite
them to church, whatever youwant to do, but don't force it on
people, right?
So here's the next thing thatI wanted to share with you.
I like this quote.
It's from the book of MasonMoxie and it says it's not my responsibility
(08:25):
to change other people, northem me, I'm free to love him or
who without stipulation, whichcreates a much wider, safer space
to actually let God do whatGod does, which is redeem all of
our lives into glory.
In other words, we're to bethe example.
We are to be the hands andfeet of Christ.
We are to be loving and we areto be welcoming and we are to let
(08:48):
like meet people where they're at.
We are not to be the judges.
We are not to be the peopletrying to tell them that they're
sinning.
Now this is different.
I'm not talking about yourclosest Christian friend where you
have deep, intimateconversations about struggles, things
they're going through.
(09:09):
That is a different thing, right?
That is somebody that you lookto as a, a safe voice, as a guide,
as someone giving you quickChristian guidance.
Those are different conversations.
I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about people inyour community, people that are not
in your tightest, closestcircle at this point.
(09:29):
We're talking about peoplethat we're trying to bring in that
we want to welcome into faithinto a relationship with Christ.
And then the other thing thatI want to share is this is by Ralph
Waldo Emerson and it's from,let's see, from inspiration and wisdom.
It says, finish each day andbe done with it.
(09:50):
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurditiescrept in.
Forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day.
Begin it well and serenely andwith too high a spirit to be encumbered
with your old nonsense.
And here's the thing.
All of us are walking through things.
All of us are struggling withthings that we have to decide how
(10:13):
to act, what to do.
We all screw up, we all sin insome way.
But as Christians, so Many ofus, even though we're not supposed
to, we put sin at differentlevels in our minds as humans.
Maybe it's because our brainswork that way, but we think, oh,
well, this person cheated.
This person was involved in a,I don't know, some terrible incident.
(10:39):
And we think, oh, those areworse than this other thing.
And I'm not saying it doesn'tsound worse, right?
I mean, taking a life or whatnot.
But what I am saying is Godtells us if we come to him, regardless
of our sin, and that we willkeep sinning.
Yes, if we're in Christ, hehelps us remove ourselves from that,
but it doesn't mean we're.
We're never going to be perfect.
(11:00):
And so we have to stop judgingand acting like we are somehow better
than someone else, even ifwe're doing it subconsciously.
It's happening in ourchurches, it's happening in our communities,
it's happening in our families.
And while I'm at it, actually,I would say too many of us are judging
other people because of theirpolitical viewpoints, who they voted
(11:22):
for, their viewpoints onvaccines, Covid, all these things.
And it's a dangerous andslippery slope.
Why?
Because you are puttingjudgment, believing your viewpoint,
your choice, your candidate isright or better or is somehow the
(11:44):
high road.
And once again, as aChristian, that is not true.
We all do the best we can.
We all are trying to grapplewith and make decisions that make
sense for us and our families.
We do not have to agree on anything.
But we can show up withrespect, we can show up in love.
We can show up and know whatcomes first in my life.
(12:06):
Well, it should be God, thenfamily, right?
Like, in other words, there's a.
There should be an order to it.
But somehow so many of usdon't realize that we've been blinded
by anger or division, that wedon't realize we're putting political
viewpoints and choices at thetop of the pedestal.
(12:29):
I don't know about you, butthat to me sounds like an idol.
I mean, in other words, we aremore obsessed with that than we are
going to God with, with beingsomebody like Christ.
And this has got to change.
There's so many Christians Iknow that they adamantly disagree
on politics, medical freedom,on, I mean, name the thing.
(12:51):
It's so many things at thispoint, on social issues, on environmental
issues.
Once again, though, if you goway back, you know anybody that's
over, I don't know, 30 something.
When our parents were growingup and then when we were young people
could have conversations andthey could just have a respect, they
could agree to disagree andit, and they could still respect
(13:15):
their neighbor, be friendswith their neighbor, be friends with
their family members.
They didn't disinvite them to Christmas.
And so this is something thatI think we all need to ask ourselves.
The question, where am Ijudging other people?
Where am I holding on to resentment?
Where am I instead of havingopen arms and inviting people in,
(13:37):
where am I closed off?
And we need to take that, weneed to think about it, pray about
it, and we need to take it toGod, like God.
Where is it that I have a.
Have I hardened my heart?
Where is it that I haven'trealized that my viewpoints are not
allowing me to be the bestexample of Christ in the world?
(13:59):
That's not allowing me to showup lovingly and open hearted Because
I think this is, this is aserious issue.
There's so much division anddissent in our world at this point.
But I believe we're called asChristians to bridge the gap, right?
To be the person that says,I'll come alongside of you no matter
(14:22):
where you're at, no matterwhat you're doing, no matter what
environment you're in, nomatter your viewpoint.
Our job is not to judge.
Our job is not to changepeople's minds.
Our job is to be like Christin the world.
And you know, like I said, BobGoff's devotional just hit me today.
(14:43):
It was only one little bit ofthat, but it kind of took me down
this path.
And like I said, I've hadother examples of going into other
churches because aftersometime around 40, we tried other
churches.
Right.
I left that church and therewas nothing wrong with that church
and I left that denomination,if you will, for that time.
(15:06):
But it was because I felt likemy kids weren't getting what they
needed.
I didn't feel like they had agood kids program.
But to be honest with you,ever since then we've struggled.
We went to other churches forsome time.
Covid hit right and thenonline church for us.
So it's been, it's been aprocess, you know, and so.
(15:26):
And now my kids are now grown,they're 18 to 23 and you know, they're
still finding their way withtheir faith, you know, as many young
adults do.
Some are very faith orientedand some are not in that I find my
kids in that same, in thatsame realm or range.
Some that are wanting to diginto their faith and some that are
still questioning their faithand things like that.
(15:49):
But you know, I'm alwayspraying about that.
I'm praying for them, youknow, over them.
And so, yeah, today I justwant to come on and just ask ourselves
the question, because it'sgood to be a Christian to say we're
a Christian.
But the question is, what areour thoughts and what are our actions
telling people?
(16:10):
What are we giving off?
What's the energy?
Because it's not just aboutspeaking and saying, oh, welcome.
People can tell by your vibe,by your energy, if you're sincere.
So you can speak whatever youwant, but if it's a lie, and by lie,
I don't mean it's a liebecause you don't feel the same way
(16:30):
of what you're speaking, right?
It's misaligned.
So I would say we need to getright with ourselves.
Like get right with God andget right with ourselves.
We need to, we need to bewelcoming if we want to grow the
church.
We have to show up andencourage people.
We need them to feel like nomatter what's going on in their life,
(16:52):
no matter what they're walkingthrough, no matter what they've done,
they are welcome here.
But until we do that, we'regonna have empty seats, empty pews.
Like now there's a lot ofrevival going on around the world
and in the U.S. especiallyyoung people, right?
There's college campus revivals.
I see all the time that peoplethat do that type of ministry are
(17:14):
doing.
There is revivals at, acrossthe country, at states and across
the world.
People like, let us worshipare doing.
So there's tons of peoplecoming, like feeling the presence
of the Lord and coming to Christ.
But they are the newChristians now.
What happens if they had thatexperience and then they go, they
(17:37):
show up to a church and theydon't feel welcome.
It feels cold, they feel off put.
Do you think they're going tokeep going?
They might not.
It's our job to help them growin their faith.
It's our job to help them knowthat no matter where they're at,
they are becoming the personChrist made them to be.
(17:58):
One day at a time, one choiceat a time, one mistake at a time.
Because each day is a new dayand we get to try again.
Okay, so that's it.
I just wanted to come on, Iwanted to speak this thing that kind
of hit me and I don't knowabout you, but I try to not be judging.
(18:18):
It doesn't mean that I neveram, but I just, I want to keep being
better.
I want to keep opening myheart more and More so that I'm the
person as I love.
Bob Kauf says two things.
He says we are the person thatwhen someone meets us, they get a
little glimpse of heaven.
Like they get a little glimpseof who Christ was because we are
(18:43):
embodying the Holy Spirit.
No, it's all about Bob today,I tell you.
But honestly, he's kind oflike an older, wiser brother.
What can I say?
But I remember in one of hisbooks, I don't know which one, he
says people don't need more roles.
They don't need to be toldmore of what to do.
(19:06):
They need to see the exampleof people loving them, caring about
them, like pointing themtowards Christ, but because they
see the love and what we getfrom that relationship.
Not because we are trying toshame them or force them or say this
(19:27):
scripture says you better dothis like, right, like, in other
words, it's because we'recoming with an open heart and open
arms.
So my call to all of us is,are we showing up as that type of
Christian in our lives or arewe still holding on to judgment and
somehow we're closed off?
(19:48):
And maybe it's because yourwhole life this was the example that
you saw, or maybe it's becausethe church that you have always gone
to or the town you live inthere, or the community, that is
the pattern, that's the typeof faith in the world you've seen.
And I totally get that thereare a lot of closed off Christians,
(20:11):
but I know that that's notwhat we're being called to do or
be.
And so I think we all need tocheck our heart, check our intentions
and ask ourselves like how arewe showing up in the world?
How are we showing up in our communities?
How are we showing up in our conversations?
And how are we showing up inour churches?
(20:32):
Until next time, I hope youhave a great and also I want to let
you know, if you haven'talready joined my weekly newsletter,
I'd love for you to come andjoin my community.
I send up encouraging,uplifting newsletter ideas and easy
exercises for you to share.
Shift your perspective to stepinto more of what God has for you.
(20:53):
Also, in case you didn't know,I also offer one on one coaching
mentoring sessions if you areready to step into something new.
If you want to get unstuckfrom somewhere you're at, if you
want to walk throughsomething, you're you just need somebody
to come alongside of you tolisten to help you break something
down.
(21:13):
And then I also provide aroadmap from what we talk about and
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But if that's of interest toyou, check out my information@kristinpitch.com
it's all there for you.
You can book a sessiondirectly or immediately, or we can
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(21:37):
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get discovered by more people.
Hey friends, welcome back toFaithfield Woman.
Today we're going to talkabout what kind of Christian are
we?
Are we welcoming with openarms or are we a bit judgy?
Are we turning people awayfrom faith and from our lives or
are we welcoming people inregardless of where they're at on
their path?
Hey friend, are you cravingdeeper faith, renewed purpose and
(00:22):
more joy in your everyday life?
Welcome to Faith Fueled Womanpodcast that helps Christian women
grow spiritually personal,pursue God's calling, and embrace
the abundant life he has for you.
I'm Kristen, an encourager,mentor, entrepreneur, wife and mom,
here to uplift, equip andinspire you with faith filled conversations
and biblical wisdom.
(00:42):
Subscribe now so you nevermiss an episode and join our Faith
Fueled community for more encouragement.
Okay, so I've one thing I'velearned is that when I have a little
prompting, something strikesme that I'm reading or a thought
hits me when I'm walking.
I need to just stop what I'mdoing and start recording a solo
(01:04):
episode of the podcast.
The reason is sometimes I havethe thought I might write something
down, but if I wait, sometimesit's days or a week before I get
back to it or I lose some ofthe fire I guess that I have for
whatever struck me.
And so today I was reading,and I do read several different devotionals,
(01:24):
but today I was reading againcatch Catching Whimsy by Bob Goff.
And something hit me.
But I want to start with astory first and it's this.
If you've been in somebodythat's always been at church, right?
You've every week religiously,you've been going to church.
Sometimes we can forget whatit feels like to be a newbie.
(01:48):
You know, somebody that maybenever had faith and they didn't have
a relationship with God.
Maybe there's people coming tothat have moved in the area that
are new to the area lookingfor a church, maybe it's somebody
looking for a new churchbecause they've been hurt by their
faith.
There are so many peoplecoming and going, often in churches.
(02:08):
The problem is, are we beingwelcoming and inviting to everyone
or are we giving off thissense of entitlement like we're better
than other people?
Or are we judging peoplebecause of how they're dressed?
Are we judging people becauseof how they look?
Are we judging people becausethey don't show up every week, or
(02:29):
they haven't come to church in years?
I think too many of us,without realizing it, have great
intentions.
But we are judging people.
We are Judgy people.
And it's a problem.
So many years ago, when mykids were young, we, you know, consistently
went to church.
Now, we might have missed church.
I mean, there's some weekswhere we missed church.
(02:49):
We had three young kids, boys,and I remember they were going to
their faith formation classes,and they.
Maybe my oldest son, he mighthave been the only one in them at
the time, or maybe two of my sons.
My other son was too little atthe time, but one of the volunteers,
right, that was teaching hisclass made it.
(03:11):
Excuse me, made a commentlike, oh, it's good to finally see
you again or something.
But whatever it was, it cameoff as judgmental and it.
It kind of offended me.
I mean, I didn't tell anyonethat it offended me at the time,
but it bothered me and it mademe not want to go back and take him
back to the class because Iwas kind of like, you don't know
my business.
You don't know what's goingon, you know, week to week, trying
(03:33):
to get the kids out the doorto get to church.
Or maybe we had somewhere wehad to be that day or that night
for class.
And it just turned me off.
Right.
It was off putting.
And I had been going to thatsame church, you know, other than
when I was at college and things.
I went there until I was over 40.
You know, I mean, yes, theremight have been ebbs and flows where
I wasn't always as consistent.
(03:55):
So this would have been whenmy kid.
I.
It was probably my 30s, myearly 30s, when this person made
the comment.
But my point is, I wassomebody that had been part of that
church.
Actually, I. I was one of thefirst people to be one of the first
babies baptized in that church.
And this person had theaudacity to say that.
But I think we don't realizethat little jabs, even if they have
(04:16):
good intention, like maybethat guy was trying to encourage
my son, but it did the exact opposite.
It totally turned me off andmade me not want to take him back
to the classes.
So are we acting like thatperson was during my son's religious
education classes?
Are we meaning well, but thenwe make a little comment or a jab
(04:38):
like, oh, I haven't seen youin some months.
That's not helpful.
Now, what could be helpful iswelcoming them and just say, like,
hello, oh, you look great today.
You know, like, make apositive comment, a warm comment.
And so in the devotionaltoday, Bob says, find someone perched
on the periphery and pull theminto the conversation.
(05:00):
But he's basically talkingabout, you know, clicks and the cool
kids in high school, but thatthat still happens in adulthood.
And he said, unfortunately,this dynamic isn't limited to high
school.
We all have experienced thesame thing in our faith communities,
social communities and workplaces.
But he says the thing aboutJesus is that he let everyone know
they were welcome.
His message of acceptancewasn't limited to the popular or
(05:20):
talented people.
And I would add, not justtalented or popular, but he would
welcome people no matter whatthey were doing, no matter who they
were hanging with, no matterif they had ever shown up again or
before.
In other words, he welcomed everybody.
No matter if you align withthem or not.
He welcomed he would welcomeeveryone even if you don't understand
(05:43):
them.
And yet we if you ask peoplethat don't go to church, if you ask
people that maybe have gone tochurch but felt hurt or alienated
by, by churches or by rapidChristians, it's because we are off
putting so often.
So he says, here's my questionfor you.
Are you giving off a vibe ofaccessibility and availability and
(06:05):
safety, or are you one whostands off or has intermediaries
who stand between you and thepeople who want to connect with you?
And he says, I get thatavailability can create some odd
and uncomfortable situations,but Jesus evidently thought it was
worth it.
And my guess is that he stillfeels that way today.
And I think this is soimportant because this is really
a struggle for so many Christians.
(06:26):
And one of my favoritescriptures is Romans 12:13, which
says take every opportunity toopen your life and home to others.
And I want to share a coupleother things, but I also just want
to mention while I get thatthe Bible tells us to spread the
good news, right, the Gospel,I do also think that we're put there
(06:51):
for different parts ofpeople's experience to coming to
Christ.
In other words, we're not allmeant on the first interaction with
somebody to pull them in andtry to convince them that they should
have a relationship with withChrist, they should become a Christian.
Often it's going to take lotsof little interactions with Christians
with the Word, with prayers tocome to that place.
(07:15):
We may be the first person onthat train, if you will, which we're
just supposed to be an exampleof the fruit of the Spirit, an example
of what the being, welcoming,being like Christ.
And so I think we have toremember that I have known people
for years where they are stillgrappling with their faith.
And it took a long time beforewe actually had a conversation about
(07:39):
God directly.
You know, just One on one,because I wasn't force feeding it.
Like I might bring up my faithor something that I'm like how I'm
able to stay calm sometimes orpeaceful, or how I'm able to bring
it to God.
But I never tried to preach,if you will, right, with this person
because it has to comeorganically, when the person is ready,
(08:00):
in different circumstances orin different conversations, of course.
Invite people, right?
Invite them into your home,invite them to your fellowship, invite
them to church, whatever youwant to do, but don't force it on
people, right?
So here's the next thing thatI wanted to share with you.
I like this quote.
It's from the book of MasonMoxie and it says it's not my responsibility
(08:25):
to change other people, northem me, I'm free to love him or
who without stipulation, whichcreates a much wider, safer space
to actually let God do whatGod does, which is redeem all of
our lives into glory.
In other words, we're to bethe example.
We are to be the hands andfeet of Christ.
We are to be loving and we areto be welcoming and we are to let
(08:48):
like meet people where they're at.
We are not to be the judges.
We are not to be the peopletrying to tell them that they're
sinning.
Now this is different.
I'm not talking about yourclosest Christian friend where you
have deep, intimateconversations about struggles, things
they're going through.
(09:09):
That is a different thing, right?
That is somebody that you lookto as a, a safe voice, as a guide,
as someone giving you quickChristian guidance.
Those are different conversations.
I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about people inyour community, people that are not
in your tightest, closestcircle at this point.
(09:29):
We're talking about peoplethat we're trying to bring in that
we want to welcome into faithinto a relationship with Christ.
And then the other thing thatI want to share is this is by Ralph
Waldo Emerson and it's from,let's see, from inspiration and wisdom.
It says, finish each day andbe done with it.
(09:50):
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurditiescrept in.
Forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day.
Begin it well and serenely andwith too high a spirit to be encumbered
with your old nonsense.
And here's the thing.
All of us are walking through things.
All of us are struggling withthings that we have to decide how
(10:13):
to act, what to do.
We all screw up, we all sin insome way.
But as Christians, so Many ofus, even though we're not supposed
to, we put sin at differentlevels in our minds as humans.
Maybe it's because our brainswork that way, but we think, oh,
well, this person cheated.
This person was involved in a,I don't know, some terrible incident.
(10:39):
And we think, oh, those areworse than this other thing.
And I'm not saying it doesn'tsound worse, right?
I mean, taking a life or whatnot.
But what I am saying is Godtells us if we come to him, regardless
of our sin, and that we willkeep sinning.
Yes, if we're in Christ, hehelps us remove ourselves from that,
but it doesn't mean we're.
We're never going to be perfect.
(11:00):
And so we have to stop judgingand acting like we are somehow better
than someone else, even ifwe're doing it subconsciously.
It's happening in ourchurches, it's happening in our communities,
it's happening in our families.
And while I'm at it, actually,I would say too many of us are judging
other people because of theirpolitical viewpoints, who they voted
(11:22):
for, their viewpoints onvaccines, Covid, all these things.
And it's a dangerous andslippery slope.
Why?
Because you are puttingjudgment, believing your viewpoint,
your choice, your candidate isright or better or is somehow the
(11:44):
high road.
And once again, as aChristian, that is not true.
We all do the best we can.
We all are trying to grapplewith and make decisions that make
sense for us and our families.
We do not have to agree on anything.
But we can show up withrespect, we can show up in love.
We can show up and know whatcomes first in my life.
(12:06):
Well, it should be God, thenfamily, right?
Like, in other words, there's a.
There should be an order to it.
But somehow so many of usdon't realize that we've been blinded
by anger or division, that wedon't realize we're putting political
viewpoints and choices at thetop of the pedestal.
(12:29):
I don't know about you, butthat to me sounds like an idol.
I mean, in other words, we aremore obsessed with that than we are
going to God with, with beingsomebody like Christ.
And this has got to change.
There's so many Christians Iknow that they adamantly disagree
on politics, medical freedom,on, I mean, name the thing.
(12:51):
It's so many things at thispoint, on social issues, on environmental
issues.
Once again, though, if you goway back, you know anybody that's
over, I don't know, 30 something.
When our parents were growingup and then when we were young people
could have conversations andthey could just have a respect, they
could agree to disagree andit, and they could still respect
(13:15):
their neighbor, be friendswith their neighbor, be friends with
their family members.
They didn't disinvite them to Christmas.
And so this is something thatI think we all need to ask ourselves.
The question, where am Ijudging other people?
Where am I holding on to resentment?
Where am I instead of havingopen arms and inviting people in,
(13:37):
where am I closed off?
And we need to take that, weneed to think about it, pray about
it, and we need to take it toGod, like God.
Where is it that I have a.
Have I hardened my heart?
Where is it that I haven'trealized that my viewpoints are not
allowing me to be the bestexample of Christ in the world?
(13:59):
That's not allowing me to showup lovingly and open hearted Because
I think this is, this is aserious issue.
There's so much division anddissent in our world at this point.
But I believe we're called asChristians to bridge the gap, right?
To be the person that says,I'll come alongside of you no matter
(14:22):
where you're at, no matterwhat you're doing, no matter what
environment you're in, nomatter your viewpoint.
Our job is not to judge.
Our job is not to changepeople's minds.
Our job is to be like Christin the world.
And you know, like I said, BobGoff's devotional just hit me today.
(14:43):
It was only one little bit ofthat, but it kind of took me down
this path.
And like I said, I've hadother examples of going into other
churches because aftersometime around 40, we tried other
churches.
Right.
I left that church and therewas nothing wrong with that church
and I left that denomination,if you will, for that time.
(15:06):
But it was because I felt likemy kids weren't getting what they
needed.
I didn't feel like they had agood kids program.
But to be honest with you,ever since then we've struggled.
We went to other churches forsome time.
Covid hit right and thenonline church for us.
So it's been, it's been aprocess, you know, and so.
(15:26):
And now my kids are now grown,they're 18 to 23 and you know, they're
still finding their way withtheir faith, you know, as many young
adults do.
Some are very faith orientedand some are not in that I find my
kids in that same, in thatsame realm or range.
Some that are wanting to diginto their faith and some that are
still questioning their faithand things like that.
(15:49):
But you know, I'm alwayspraying about that.
I'm praying for them, youknow, over them.
And so, yeah, today I justwant to come on and just ask ourselves
the question, because it'sgood to be a Christian to say we're
a Christian.
But the question is, what areour thoughts and what are our actions
telling people?
(16:10):
What are we giving off?
What's the energy?
Because it's not just aboutspeaking and saying, oh, welcome.
People can tell by your vibe,by your energy, if you're sincere.
So you can speak whatever youwant, but if it's a lie, and by lie,
I don't mean it's a liebecause you don't feel the same way
(16:30):
of what you're speaking, right?
It's misaligned.
So I would say we need to getright with ourselves.
Like get right with God andget right with ourselves.
We need to, we need to bewelcoming if we want to grow the
church.
We have to show up andencourage people.
We need them to feel like nomatter what's going on in their life,
(16:52):
no matter what they're walkingthrough, no matter what they've done,
they are welcome here.
But until we do that, we'regonna have empty seats, empty pews.
Like now there's a lot ofrevival going on around the world
and in the U.S. especiallyyoung people, right?
There's college campus revivals.
I see all the time that peoplethat do that type of ministry are
(17:14):
doing.
There is revivals at, acrossthe country, at states and across
the world.
People like, let us worshipare doing.
So there's tons of peoplecoming, like feeling the presence
of the Lord and coming to Christ.
But they are the newChristians now.
What happens if they had thatexperience and then they go, they
(17:37):
show up to a church and theydon't feel welcome.
It feels cold, they feel off put.
Do you think they're going tokeep going?
They might not.
It's our job to help them growin their faith.
It's our job to help them knowthat no matter where they're at,
they are becoming the personChrist made them to be.
(17:58):
One day at a time, one choiceat a time, one mistake at a time.
Because each day is a new dayand we get to try again.
Okay, so that's it.
I just wanted to come on, Iwanted to speak this thing that kind
of hit me and I don't knowabout you, but I try to not be judging.
(18:18):
It doesn't mean that I neveram, but I just, I want to keep being
better.
I want to keep opening myheart more and More so that I'm the
person as I love.
Bob Kauf says two things.
He says we are the person thatwhen someone meets us, they get a
little glimpse of heaven.
Like they get a little glimpseof who Christ was because we are
(18:43):
embodying the Holy Spirit.
No, it's all about Bob today,I tell you.
But honestly, he's kind oflike an older, wiser brother.
What can I say?
But I remember in one of hisbooks, I don't know which one, he
says people don't need more roles.
They don't need to be toldmore of what to do.
(19:06):
They need to see the exampleof people loving them, caring about
them, like pointing themtowards Christ, but because they
see the love and what we getfrom that relationship.
Not because we are trying toshame them or force them or say this
(19:27):
scripture says you better dothis like, right, like, in other
words, it's because we'recoming with an open heart and open
arms.
So my call to all of us is,are we showing up as that type of
Christian in our lives or arewe still holding on to judgment and
somehow we're closed off?
(19:48):
And maybe it's because yourwhole life this was the example that
you saw, or maybe it's becausethe church that you have always gone
to or the town you live inthere, or the community, that is
the pattern, that's the typeof faith in the world you've seen.
And I totally get that thereare a lot of closed off Christians,
(20:11):
but I know that that's notwhat we're being called to do or
be.
And so I think we all need tocheck our heart, check our intentions
and ask ourselves like how arewe showing up in the world?
How are we showing up in our communities?
How are we showing up in our conversations?
And how are we showing up inour churches?
(20:32):
Until next time, I hope youhave a great and also I want to let
you know, if you haven'talready joined my weekly newsletter,
I'd love for you to come andjoin my community.
I send up encouraging,uplifting newsletter ideas and easy
exercises for you to share.
Shift your perspective to stepinto more of what God has for you.
(20:53):
Also, in case you didn't know,I also offer one on one coaching
mentoring sessions if you areready to step into something new.
If you want to get unstuckfrom somewhere you're at, if you
want to walk throughsomething, you're you just need somebody
to come alongside of you tolisten to help you break something
down.
(21:13):
And then I also provide aroadmap from what we talk about and
help you get to that next spot.
But if that's of interest toyou, check out my information@kristinpitch.com
it's all there for you.
You can book a sessiondirectly or immediately, or we can
jump on a quick call to see ifthis is right for you.
But check it out.
I would love to work with youand help you step into everything
(21:37):
God wants for you.
Thanks again for listening tothis channel and if you enjoyed today's
episode, we would love it ifyou could take a minute to leave
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