UNDO: Condemning (Week 2)
UNDO CONDEMNING
Never in our world has it been more acceptable to completely dismiss and condemn another for most any reason. Religious beliefs, political parties, appearance, opinions stated or implied, etc.
But while these are common, for most of us, condemnation is not always as public or extreme. We do it in private thoughts or conversations.
This is why condemnation of others feels so justified— like justice. But…
How was it possible for the Originator of our morality and faith to save the world without condemning it? Was he “soft on sin”? Are we to overlook evil thoughts, evil ways, evil words, evil behaviors, evil? Accept them?
John 8:3-11 NLT: 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” 6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” 11 “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
Ill- Regen, if God has forgiven my sins towards others, he has forgiven theirs toward me
Condemnation results from two actions: contempt and judgment.
It shocked the religious leaders that Jesus didn’t hold sinners in contempt. He saw their value when all, including themselves, believed there was none.
Compassion: the antidote for contempt—believing value as God declares it.
“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
If contempt is what we think of others, judgment is what we insist they deserve.
"If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him; for you are worse than he thinks you to be.” –Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892 AD)
“Compassion can never coexist with judgment because judgment creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other.” --Henri Nouwen (1932–1996)
