I read Radical Together by David Platt a few years ago and there was one statement that has always stuck with me. He writes, “the last thing you and I want to do is waste lives on religious activity that is devoid of spiritual productivity- being active in the church but not advancing the kingdom of God[…] if we are not careful we will spend our lives doing good things in church while we ultimately miss out on the purpose for which we were created.”
Who would have thought that 15 people in a hostel in Zambia would represent almost every continent on the planet! Each of us were bringing our own stories, personalities, religious experiences, education and cultural differences all into one small space. For you enneagram lovers out there, the type 5 in me was more than ready to observe and learn as much as I could about our new friends and how we would all live together in this time.
But, unfortunately, like many others in my generation (as well as others before me), a few of their stories were filled with hurt and rejection caused by the Christian church. Instead of being loved for who they are and welcomed with open arms to bring them closer to Jesus, these friends were judged for what they’ve done. Small moments in their life turned into labels they couldn’t escape and instead of the church sharing this burden and reminding them of the Father’s constant love, the church used rules and Scripture to keep their distance. Confused, broken and carrying so much unnecessary shame, they chose to walk away from the church, their faith and God. These new friends tried to move on and look for different ways to find healing and acceptance.
My heart is burdened for those who share a similar story to my new friends. I’ve been there but I’ve been on both sides. I’ve judged others and put my theology over people without knowing their story and I’ve also had the same done to me. This is not loving people well. We are more than a moment or mistake, and we will experience millions of moments and choices throughout our life. On one hand, to allow the frustration and bitterness from rejection to build will only hurt the one who is bitter. On the other hand, to completely walk away and reject the church as a whole is too harsh of a response because we still need community. But either way, to ignore the hurt and pain of others that was caused by some in the church is to ignore the reality of some people’s stories and experiences.
Let me try to use a story to emphasize my point. Jesus addresses how to relate to people when confronted with issues of theology and rules. In the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37; this story is also coupled with the two great commandments in Mark 12:28-34 and Matt 22:34-40), Jesus uses his knowledge of Jewish law to make his point about loving people well. When a man who studied the law questioned Jesus to identify the neighbor that he is supposed to love more than himself, Jesus replies with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The context for this parable would make sense to a first century Jew and so to truly appreciate this parable you need more background than most of us have not being Jewish or living around that time. However there is still a lesson to be learned that those of us without seminary degrees can still appreciate.
If you want the complete picture (which I recommend first before continuing), read Luke 10:25-37. The gist of the story is a man was beaten on a dangerous road, robbed and left for dead. Before I go further, this man made the decision to go alone on a dangerous road and so what happened to him would have been easily credited his fault for choosing to be careless. After some time passed, two religious men, a priest and Levite…. I repeat, two RELIGIOUS men (so these people would have been very aware of the law and would be obeying it much better than you or I ever could) saw this man half dead and chose to continue walking. One of them even ensured his shadow wouldn’t touch the man. The significance of this is the fact that these men weren’t actually heartless but just chose to follow their law rather than breaking the law to help the man. I believe there’s some Old Testament laws that discourage or forbid coming into contact with things that are dead or that appear to be dead (feel free to dig into that more). Therefore both men chose to be obedient to the law and passed by him. The Samaritan, (besides the significance of his heritage; Jews did not view Samaritans very highly) however, chose to help the man. He carried him to a nearby town and paid for the man to be cared for until he had fully recovered. Now Jesus, knowing the law pretty well (being God and everything), asked the lawyer which of the three was being the good neighbor. The lawyer’s response was the “one who showed mercy” (Luke 10:37). Did you miss it? Jesus said the two men who followed the law…made the wrong choice.
When our religion or rules get in the way of truly loving other people and meeting them where they are at, we are not following Jesus well. I didn’t say it, Jesus did. But don’t take this Christian Liberty thing when it comes to rules as a get-out-of-jail-free card because it’s not (read more of Paul’s letters, especially Romans, to see what I mean if you don’t believe me).
Jesus came and fulfilled the Old Testament law, you know, the thing the priest and the Levite were following in the story. To fulfill it, he became the perfect sacrifice to God the Father for the forgiveness of all sins for all people. His death paid for it. Period. No more sacrifices for every sin you can remember, he’s paid for those already. Past. Present. And Future. So why are we wasting our time trying to earn our salvation when it is freely given to us? Better yet, why are we distorting this truth for others when we shame them or point our fingers at them from a distance for moments that Jesus already died for? God the Father took care of the judgement role for our sins by sending his own Son to die for them. And then in his grace, Jesus rose from the dead after 3 days so we can also live with the Father forever if we choose to believe in Jesus and his resurrection.
So why don’t we just leave the whole judgement role to the Father then (he’s way more capable than us and seems to have it all covered anyways without our help)? Then we are just left to figure out how to be like Jesus meet people where they’re at a little better so they can come to believe in Jesus and love like him.
Let’s then be a church that chooses to care more about the person than our rules. Be a church that chooses to love people for who they are in Jesus and not shame them for a single moment or mistake. Be a church that encourages their brothers and sisters with truth in love and not one or the other. Be a church that lives freely in the spirit and not afraid of the spirit. Be a church that does more than talk about Jesus’ love. Be a church that embraces the uncomfortable if it means more people come to know and love Jesus.
Please, I’m begging you for people’s sake, be the church.
