If you grew up in church, you've probably heard the following a thousand times over... Jesus was teaching in the temple when some religious leaders brought a woman to Jesus who had just been caught in the middle of committing adultery, and they asked him whether they should stone her for her sins. Jesus started writing on the ground and answered in John 8:7, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Then he continued writing on the ground as one person after another left the woman instead of stoning her, until finally the woman was left alone, and Jesus told her that if no one else condemned her, neither did he, and sent her away with a mission: stop sinning.
When I've thought about this story in the past, my first thought is often about how cool it was for Jesus to call out the religious leaders and let the woman free, because I would want Jesus to let me free instead of condemning me if I was the sinful woman (which, you know, I am a sinful person, just like everybody else, including you). But then, I wonder how often I am actually the person condemning. How many times have I thought somebody else was doing something "wrong" or wasn't acting "Christian" enough? In our society, Christians are guilty of this all the time. There are so many people in this world feel like Christians are judging them because of their past (especially life before they met Jesus for Christians), or because they swear, or they're homosexual, or they work instead of going to church, or they have sex outside of marriage (like the woman in the story, for example). I could go on.
I don't want to judge people that way. I'm a screw-up too. I've made mistakes. I've sinned. I still sin sometimes. I just try not to because I have a reason to: Jesus. A lot of people turn away from or reject our Lord and Savior because of the examples set by those who are supposed to represent Him. The way I see it, there are two reasons Jesus responded the way He did in John 8. For one, He reminds us how much we need grace and forgiveness even though we deserve condemnation. Two, He teaches us that we shouldn't judge other people for their sins when we ourselves are just as sinful. Let the one who has never sinned cast the first stone? It's not gonna be me.
There are several places in Scripture that talk about judgment. Romans 2 is a wonderful reminder that I'm in no place to judge others when I'm just as screwed up as they are, and that we all need Jesus just as much as the people we condemn. Matthew 7 starts out with Jesus teaching that by the same measures we use to judge other people, we're going to be judged. James 4 reminds us that God is the only Judge who's judgment holds any weight because when we judge, we're more focused on judging others by God's standards instead of following them ourselves, which is not how God calls us to live.
Now, there is another matter of judgment, and that's judging other Christians. Up to this point, I've considered these examples as judgment directed towards, well, anyone (Christian, not Christian, either way, we shouldn't be judging them). Often times, however, Christians judge each other for differences in beliefs or lifestyles. Some Christians worship only through singing hymns while others branch out to other types of music and worship styles. Some believe in predestination and some in free will (which is a whole other rabbit hole I could go down, but won't... at least for now). Some Christians... you know what, I could create a list so long on the differences that Christians have from one another that I'd forget the point I'm trying to make here, and you probably get the gist of what I'm saying here (that, you know, Christians can't agree on just about anything and judge each other because of those differences).
Scripture talks about this kind of judgment too. Colossians 2 tells us not to judge other believers based on how they live for Christ when they are doing what they believe God wants them to do. Romans 14 pushes us to respect what others believe about God instead of discouraging them for believing differently than we do, as long as we still agree that God is who He says He is and that Jesus died for our sins. Within the church (and I don't just mean that place you go Sunday mornings, I mean all Christians everywhere in the world that make up the family of God), we are pretty judgmental towards one another, and this should not be so. We shouldn't argue about how THAT church is doing XYZ wrong and how THAT person isn't living biblically and how... etc. We ought to be united as the One Church, the family of God, followers of Jesus. We ought to focus on what we have in common and agree on rather than on what we disagree on. Instead, we have churches on every corner and so many denominations that no one can keep track of how many there are because Christians have decided to divide instead of unite when it comes to what we believe, even though we all have the same core, central belief that Jesus is the Christ who died for our sins to save us for eternity.
Maybe, and hear me out, the judgmental divisions in our churches are contributing to our judgment towards those who don't know Jesus. The number of people who have left church, turned away from God, or chosen to reject Jesus altogether without a second thought is substantial, and many of them do so because of the people in their lives who claim to love Jesus and devote their lives to Him, but who also don't live out their faith and then judge others for being who they are. Realistically, if someone walked into your church who didn't dress the "right" way, believe the "right" things, worship "your" way, or live a "Christian" enough lifestyle, would they be welcome in your church? You may say yes and be confident that you wouldn't judge them, but my next question is: Would they feel welcome enough to come back?
Sometimes we don't realize the impact that judging others has on them. People hurt when they aren't accepted for who they are, and Jesus accepts people for who they are. People want to feel welcome, and Jesus welcomes everyone. People desire respect for their beliefs and choices, and Jesus respected everyone, and if they were on a sin-filled path, He would gently redirect them towards Himself. Do we accept people the way Jesus would? Do we welcome them regardless of our differences? Do we respect who they are and what they believe, even if it's not what we believe is "best" or "right"?
Now I'm not saying to encourage sinful behaviors and lifestyles (that kind of judgment is talked about in Scripture, but in the sense that we should call out the sin of other believers in a kind, gentle manner the way Jesus would and help redirect people towards a better lifestyle), but I am saying that we need to stop judging people for living and thinking differently than us. We're all guilty of this, and it needs to change if we want the world to see Jesus through us. We shouldn't judge nonbelievers for how they live when they don't know Jesus, and we shouldn't judge believers for having different beliefs and lifestyles so long as they are still living for the Lord and seeking to honor Him in what they do. On top of it all, we should show grace when those in either category sin because Jesus shows us grace when we screw up too. Because, let's be real, we're all screw-ups in need of a Savior when you really think about it.
Comments
Post a Comment