I am amazed by how I see us as christians set standards for others that we don’t amount up to ourselves. And some of us never even plan to try. I know of an old saying a man used to say to someone close to me. I quote: “Its a lot easier to tell someone what to do than to do it yourself.”
Trust me when I tell you that I understand this concept. While I cant take credit for the saying. I can tell you that I lived in that mind frame for most of my life. And unfortunately sometimes I still do.
I see the way we sometimes treat other sin a way that Christ would not. We teach grace, mercy and forgiveness. We share the love of Christ. We share the truth and people change they get better. They find purpose. They transform into the person that God created them to be. There is hope there is life there is purpose. there’s this fulfilment that we can’t explain. And then………..
They are attacked as we told them they would be because Gods word says they will be. They make a mistake or two or three. Then our worldly ways begin to take action. We start looking at them as the world does. We begin to treat them like the world does. This doesn’t always happen. I am not saying that. I am a part of a body of Christ that is the most loving excepting compassionate people ive ever met. But we are still of the flesh and this still happens. But it never should. Our worldly thinking begins to categorize their sin. And our grace, mercy and forgiveness starts to depend on the person and their sin. Thank God Jesus never took this approach he treated everyone the same and made it clear that sin is sin. The same things that we begin to judge others for we have done or are doing in some form or fashion. We have no right to treat others this way.
Do you remember when you where a kid and your Mom or Dad would tell you, “don’t throw that rock you will break something”
Consider John 8:1-11
1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 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. 7 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.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 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. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
My Point is don’t Throw those rocks because you might break someone. And that some one is a child of God who is not condemned by him so we can’t condemn them either. So put down your rocks and open your arms. Thats what Christ did And what he wants us to do also.
2 responses to “Put down that rock !!!!”
Trey Bailey
October 4th, 2011 at 20:11
leaving the rock alone..good words, bro
Brad Rutledge
October 4th, 2011 at 20:38
Good thoughts. Sometimes we extend very little grace when much has been extended to us. -Brad