Say What???

We are told over and over in scripture that we are to be building each other up.  That we are supposed to be encouraging each other.  That we are supposed to be watching the words that we say.  As Christians we are supposed to give words of "affirmation" to each other. The outside world of non believers is hard enough on Christ followers.  So why in the world is it that too often than not we feel like this dude when we talk to each other:

"Then neither do I condemn you, " Jesus Declared.  "Go now and leave your life of sin" (John 8:11)

Now hold up, we are supposed to be like Jesus (hence the name Christians, "Christ like", followers of Jesus), and yet we don't do this.  To set the scene here, a woman had been caught in adultery, and the crowd of men had gathered to stone her (cause stoning was the punishment for adultery).  Believe me there was a line of people anxiously waiting to stone this poor girl.  Does this sound familiar?  If someone gets "caught" wrapped up in alcohol, affairs, drugs, unemployment, or any kind of addiction we line up ready to throw stones.  We may not literaly throw stones, but the words that we say are as bad, if not worse.  We say things like:

"Boy they have some nerve showing their face"

"Can't believe that happened to them"
"Their parents must be so ashamed"

"I would have to move"

"That's the most horrifying thing I've ever heard/seen"
"What happened to them, they seemed so.... normal"

"if i where them i would have changed churches"

or even:

"we should exlude them from church"

wow, just wow.

It's amazing how we shoot our own..

So anyway back to the narrative, Jesus kneels down beside this young lady and writes something in the sand.  Then one by one the line of people leaves, and all she is left with is .... Jesus. 

Did she have a moral failure?  Yep.  Did she do wrong?  Yep.  Did Jesus condemn her for it?  Nope.

Jesus, who is the only one who has the right to condemn, didn't.  That should be enough.

Stop beating up your fellow believers and just be there for them.  It's hard enough to deal with personal failures without a line of people waiting to throw stones.  The choice is ours, either grab a stone or be there for them.

Chris