A friend called this week, confused and concerned because someone at work was harassing her with demands for her surrender to God.

His image of God, of course.

"You must be born again!" he demanded of her.

"You will not go to heaven." he warned her as he badgered her daily for submission to his own limited view of God.

In frustration, she called wondering what she could possibly do.

I am sure a similar experience has happened to you.

What should we do?

We can respond with violent emotion. We can wish the guy would just drop dead. We can buy into the axiom that he has bought into, that salvation is something that can be put into a neat little box and carried around in your hip pocket.

Or we can respond with the Gospel.

We can react with love and grace and a gentle word that says we believe God’s love is so wondrous and wide that it can embrace both of us, all of us, no matter what we believe or where we live or how we were raised.

Such a response may be inadequate in the eyes of religious zealots but, I am convinced, it is more than enough for God.