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• Each wants a sense of acceptance and belonging.
• Each desires strong, lasting relationships.
• Each one’s search is perpetuated by an inner emptiness.
• This emptiness causes each one to seek affirmation and approval from others.
• Each desires to be loved and cared for in order to fill the inner void.

In Christian circles, we often refer to this desire for love and meaning as the “God-shaped void” because the only one who can fill it is God himself. When we try to fill it with anything other than God, it remains as a wide gulf of darkness that separates us from complete fellowship with him.

The major difference between Christians and Greeks is the way they fill this void. And sometimes on-lookers judge what Greeks are doing rather than asking why they are doing it. And the judging attitude goes both ways. Often, people in Christian circles and those in Greek circles do not mesh. Their judgment of one another separates them.

So, what are we, as concerned Christians, to do about this? How would Christ respond? John 8:1–11 comes to mind. In this passage of scripture, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to Jesus and wanted him to give them permission to execute her by stoning, for this was the way of justice in the law of Moses. Jesus said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Eventually everyone left and no one stoned her. He then pointed out that he didn’t condemn her either, and told her to leave her life of sin.

A temptation many Christians face is to condemn people or groups who are not seeking Christ rather than reaching out to them in love. Jesus reorders the priorities of people in John 8, because he says we must examine our own hearts first, rather than judging those around us.

In the case of Christians and Greeks, once we examine our hearts, we realize that each of us is truly seeking the same thing: to be accepted, to be cared for and to find a sense of belonging and purpose. What an opportunity for the gospel!