Best-selling author John Grisham addressed his fellow Baptists Thursday at the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant, an Atlanta meeting that brought together Baptists across racial, geographical and theological lines, and gave them his advice on ways to disarm critics of their faith group.

Number One: Respect diversity

“Who are we kidding when we try to exclude?” he asked. “God made all of us, he loves all of us equally and he expects us to love and respect each other without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, biblical interpretation, denominations or other religions.”

Number Two: Stay out of politics

“When the church gets involved in politics, it alienates many of the very people it is supposed to serve …. It causes hatred and it drives people away from the church and for this, these political Christians will pay a price.”

Number Three: Spend as much time on the streets as in the church

“Jesus preached more and taught more about helping the poor and the sick and the hungry than he did about heaven and hell. Shouldn’t that tell us something?”