Condem/nation
Condem/nation
We live in an interesting time. Maybe it’s always been this way. Maybe television and social media has intensified it. But we live in a time and society that loves judgement and condemnation.
If you don’t believe me, just consider the innumerable talent shows on tv that give you the opportunity to be one of the judges alongside the others. Many of them even have online voting for your favorite. Sure, it’s “voting,” but it’s voting masquerading as judgement.
Don’t get me wrong - not all judgement is bad. We need it in a civilized society to ensure justice is done. Sometimes it’s not judgement - it’s simply decisiveness between which product to use and which to put back on the shelf.
That decisiveness, however, can quickly turn to divisiveness when we use it on other humans and not just limit it to products. When people become products they lose their value.
Too often in our culture, we are made or forced to make decisions. Voting is a wonderful thing. I think everyone should be an informed voter and make their vote and voice heard according the Word of God as best we can. This blog isn’t about voting, but it is about getting forced into a corner, which is kind of what it feels like when voting on certain hot topics.
You see, we live in a nation and culture of either/or. You either condone or you condemn. You either affirm or you afflict. You either justify or you judge. Somehow, Jesus did neither. Or at least He saved it for the ones who needed it. The Pharisees. The religious elitists.
Condemning someone is always so much easier than correcting or encouraging or challenging. Maybe that’s why it’s usually our first instinct as humans. Condemning takes little effort. It certainly takes no time to consider the person or the situation. Condemning also makes us feel superior than the one we are condemning. And still, somehow, Jesus did neither except to those elites.
There’s a story in the gospels that was only recorded by John. It’s in chapter 8, where the Pharisees bring a woman caught in the act of adultery. They want to stone her per the Law of Moses, which was their right. It’s always been strange to me that she was caught in the act but the man she committed it with, is nowhere to be found.
In the Law of Moses, both of them are condemned to stoning, yet he seemed to somehow escape this fate. This is my opinion and I can’t prove it, but I’ve always had the feeling that the Pharisees set her up so they could set Him up. She was a useless product to them. But she was a person to Him. She was worth killing to them. But she was worth dying for to Him.
And when the crowds had all gone away and it was only her and Jesus, one of the most beautiful parts in all the Bible takes place. Jesus picks her up, looks deep in her eyes, and asks a simple question. “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?…Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (Jn 8:10-11 ESV)
This part is so beautiful because in just a few sentences He offers her grace and mercy. He offers her protection and understanding. He gives her hope for the future. He doesn’t condemn her like the rest of them do. But He also challenges her. He also brings conviction to her. He also doesn’t condone what got her in that situation. “Go and sin no more” means to stop doing what got you the problems Jesus is helping you with.
So how do we do that? To be honest, I don’t have it all figured out. If I’m being real, I know I lean more towards condemn than anything else. But I think it starts with having the right vision. To see people that way Jesus sees them.
It’s easy to condemn when you see them as products instead of trying to understand that they are a product of their environment. Or a product of their family. Or a product of factors that they did not choose.
And there’s a very simple, yet powerful (and even difficult) scripture that will challenge and change our perspective. Go and read Matthew 7:1-6 on your own. It’s powerful stuff. But to sum it up, when we understand that we have a plank or board or log in our eye, and our neighbor has a speck in theirs, that’s when things change for us.
You see, once you see the log in your eye, and you remove it, the speck in your neighbor’s eye won’t seem like a big deal. Or, if you still think it needs to be removed, you’ll have better vision, and a better understanding in order to do it with love and conviction instead of judgement and condemnation.
Our job is to follow Christ and imitate the model He left for us. To imitate is to replicate. And we replicate who we are. If Christ is in us, then we should be replicating Him to the world around us.
This isn’t just your challenge. It’s mine. I probably need it more than you do. So I’ll leave you with one final thought.
It’s our job to always bring conviction, but never bring condemnation.
We live in an interesting time. Maybe it’s always been this way. Maybe television and social media has intensified it. But we live in a time and society that loves judgement and condemnation.
If you don’t believe me, just consider the innumerable talent shows on tv that give you the opportunity to be one of the judges alongside the others. Many of them even have online voting for your favorite. Sure, it’s “voting,” but it’s voting masquerading as judgement.
Don’t get me wrong - not all judgement is bad. We need it in a civilized society to ensure justice is done. Sometimes it’s not judgement - it’s simply decisiveness between which product to use and which to put back on the shelf.
That decisiveness, however, can quickly turn to divisiveness when we use it on other humans and not just limit it to products. When people become products they lose their value.
Too often in our culture, we are made or forced to make decisions. Voting is a wonderful thing. I think everyone should be an informed voter and make their vote and voice heard according the Word of God as best we can. This blog isn’t about voting, but it is about getting forced into a corner, which is kind of what it feels like when voting on certain hot topics.
You see, we live in a nation and culture of either/or. You either condone or you condemn. You either affirm or you afflict. You either justify or you judge. Somehow, Jesus did neither. Or at least He saved it for the ones who needed it. The Pharisees. The religious elitists.
Condemning someone is always so much easier than correcting or encouraging or challenging. Maybe that’s why it’s usually our first instinct as humans. Condemning takes little effort. It certainly takes no time to consider the person or the situation. Condemning also makes us feel superior than the one we are condemning. And still, somehow, Jesus did neither except to those elites.
There’s a story in the gospels that was only recorded by John. It’s in chapter 8, where the Pharisees bring a woman caught in the act of adultery. They want to stone her per the Law of Moses, which was their right. It’s always been strange to me that she was caught in the act but the man she committed it with, is nowhere to be found.
In the Law of Moses, both of them are condemned to stoning, yet he seemed to somehow escape this fate. This is my opinion and I can’t prove it, but I’ve always had the feeling that the Pharisees set her up so they could set Him up. She was a useless product to them. But she was a person to Him. She was worth killing to them. But she was worth dying for to Him.
And when the crowds had all gone away and it was only her and Jesus, one of the most beautiful parts in all the Bible takes place. Jesus picks her up, looks deep in her eyes, and asks a simple question. “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?…Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (Jn 8:10-11 ESV)
This part is so beautiful because in just a few sentences He offers her grace and mercy. He offers her protection and understanding. He gives her hope for the future. He doesn’t condemn her like the rest of them do. But He also challenges her. He also brings conviction to her. He also doesn’t condone what got her in that situation. “Go and sin no more” means to stop doing what got you the problems Jesus is helping you with.
So how do we do that? To be honest, I don’t have it all figured out. If I’m being real, I know I lean more towards condemn than anything else. But I think it starts with having the right vision. To see people that way Jesus sees them.
It’s easy to condemn when you see them as products instead of trying to understand that they are a product of their environment. Or a product of their family. Or a product of factors that they did not choose.
And there’s a very simple, yet powerful (and even difficult) scripture that will challenge and change our perspective. Go and read Matthew 7:1-6 on your own. It’s powerful stuff. But to sum it up, when we understand that we have a plank or board or log in our eye, and our neighbor has a speck in theirs, that’s when things change for us.
You see, once you see the log in your eye, and you remove it, the speck in your neighbor’s eye won’t seem like a big deal. Or, if you still think it needs to be removed, you’ll have better vision, and a better understanding in order to do it with love and conviction instead of judgement and condemnation.
Our job is to follow Christ and imitate the model He left for us. To imitate is to replicate. And we replicate who we are. If Christ is in us, then we should be replicating Him to the world around us.
This isn’t just your challenge. It’s mine. I probably need it more than you do. So I’ll leave you with one final thought.
It’s our job to always bring conviction, but never bring condemnation.
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