What is our Christian responsibility when we see other Christians treating nonbelievers badly?

The Spirit has given each of us different gifts. One of them is the gift of standing up for Justice ....

Sometimes it is enough simply to live a Christian calling openly and unashamedly. To me, that means to pray and study the bible without apology to my "more enlightened" atheist colleagues and friends; and ALSO to speak out for justice for divorcees, homosexuals, and non-Christians without apology to my "more devout" Christian colleagues and friends. Indeed, if the majority of Christians were convicted to be open about both their Christianity and their tolerance for the people around them, the stereotypes of the judgemental, intolerant Christian might die a natural death. There would still be nasty Christians -- because we are, like any human group, a mixed bag of sinners -- but the non-believers who encountered such nastiness would recognize it for the exception, not the rule.

Simply to BE and BE overtly is also a gift. But, by itself, it turns out it's not enough. It might be enough to convince non-believers that we're not all bad, but it doesn't minister to them and restore the dignity that the nastiness assaulted. It also doesn't minister to the person who committed the nastiness, or to their pawns (ifor example, employees who are committing injustice in the mistaken belief that it represents a “worthy” corporate policy). The gift of simply living with integrity needs to be bolstered by those who have the gift of speaking out, and those who have the gift of reaching out. And by those who have the gift of prayer for the healing of the two communities that have been violated by the injustices you recount.

We cannot simply reject the person who mistakenly commits unjustice in Christ's name. Perhaps, if we belonged to some other affiliation, we could simply point and say "look, he's the minority; he's not *really* one of us". But, our calling is to healing and inclusion. Somehow -- and I don't have the answer to how -- we need to seek a response that offers regret and restitution to the victims of Christian-perpetrated injustice; and *also* offers reconciliation and forgiveness to the perpetrator.