“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir.” she said. “Then neither do I,” Jesus declared, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” – John 8:3-11
While reading this scripture in church, My pastor made a good point. He said, “What do you think Jesus was writing in the sand? We don’t ever find out but here’s my guess. He was writing “gossip, pride, cursing, drunk, pornography, immoral behavior, ect. All the sins that those priests probably dealt with on a daily basis but nobody knew about.” Within the church, this mindset has been adopted that we are to look down and judge the way non believers live their lives. It’s the belief that we must act as if we don’t sin as often or share the same struggles as them. Let me give you some real life examples. Take for example the guy who is covered in tattoos who visits a church for the first time seeking out his faith. Instead of being greeted with welcoming arms, he is asked to cover up his body artwork because it’s not appropriate. Or how about the homeless man from the corner who walks through the church doors to escape the cold and is shunned because of his smell instead of embraced? Or lets take the example of a family dealing with mental illness and in the deepest darkest moments when they are reaching out for help and compassion from the church members, they are met with confusion, hostility, and even anger? What happens to the ideas of God and church in these people’s minds? It’s tarnished forever. No longer will the idea of the church be grace, love, and compassion. Instead, these people believe its a place where they are not welcome and are judged based on their appearance or current situation.
Here’s the issue: We think that because we are believers that we have to make sure everybody knows that we don’t struggle with similar issues. We are above that. All this does is show the non believers that we think we are better than them. It creates a divide that cannot be repaired. In the story above, the adulterous woman was brought before Jesus by the elders because she was caught cheating. In their minds, her sin was worth her life. But instead of condemning her, Jesus showered her with grace and truth. He reminded the elders and priests that her sin was no different from theirs. No sin is worse than another in God’s eyes. We find it so easy to harshly condemn a non believer because we want to believe that since we are saved that we don’t struggle just like them. How are we to ever profess the everlasting grace and love of God if we can’t take ourselves off of the pedestal of a sinless life?
I myself am very guilty of judging others and comparing my life to theirs. I will put people in a category based on their looks, what car they drive, how they speak, where they are from and WITHOUT even getting to know them, I make assumptions about them. Over the last few days, God has brought my struggle with judgement to the surface. I now understand why. On the race, our mission work is going to be about reaching out to the non believers, the downtrodden, and the broken. I am going to experience new types of sin and darkness that I didn’t even know existed. How can I sit there judging these people’s lives internally and yet talk out loud to them about the infinite love of Christ? I can’t. I have to realize that in God’s eyes, our sins are equal. We are no different. We all are broken and lead a sinful life. The difference is that I believe that Jesus died to take away those sins and wipe our slate clean. It is my duty to share the story of Jesus with these people through kindness and humility and hope that they too are brought out of the darkness and into the light just as I was. When I judge others, I leave no room to love them. Why not try to join them in their brokenness and walk with them through it sharing the story of Jesus along the way? How many more people can you reach by being humble and openly talking about your sins/struggles instead of condemning them for theirs? It’s a hard lesson to learn and an even harder one to practice. But once learned, it will allow us, as Christians, to reach out to the non believers with grace and truth about salvation through Jesus.
Prayer Request for the week: I am still very much struggling with worrying over finances for the race. There have been multiple setbacks since starting this journey and I get lost in thinking about paying off debt while keeping myself afloat through this next year and a half. I ask for prayer for strength to remember that this is out of my control and he will provide the resources if this is his will. I pray that I can fully trust in him and know that he is going to take care of me no matter what.
Thank you all for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers over the last few weeks! I have felt extremely blessed to know that each and every one of you are on my #hometeam!
