Judge Not

We had an interesting discussion/lesson while meeting with the Church today and this is what I took from it:

How many times have you been watching a football game and observed a "John 3:16" sign in the stands? It's the single most memorized and recognized verse in the Scriptures outside of "In the beginning..."

John 3:16 is a very powerful verse. The concept that God loves His creation and He gave his Son that believers in Him would not perish is amazing. What a gift that He would choose some of us to live with Him when we deserve little more than death!

However, I think the verse that follows (3:17) has been largely ignored. How ironic that the verse that follows the most famous of all Scriptures is the one that Christians eschew more than any other.

It says, "For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." The idea is that the world is already condemned. It didn't need Jesus to do that. Condemnation had already been scheduled for all of us in the future. Jesus is the Hope. He is the Opportunity and Redeemer. He is the GOOD NEWS that some people won't be condemned. And we are His "Bride" created to be His ambassadors!

But how often do His ambassadors turn Good News into judgment and condemnation? In our desperate attempt to quantify spirituality and "spiritual maturity" we begin to measure the externals and turn the Good News into a checklist of how spiritual awakening should act itself out. The nonbeliever hears little more than comparisons between the "mature" believer and the current station they are in - and they become discouraged.

How much more effective would the church be if we spent less time defining behaviors and encouraging spiritual and behavioral homogenization and more time introducing the mercy and grace of God? Our obsession with changing people from the outside-in is, in my humble opinion, what divides the church and what limits our participation in seeing people come to know Christ for who He is - the Redeemer who reminded the woman at the well (John 8:1-20) that He first loved her and didn't condemn her actions...THEN, once He knew the message had hit home, exhorted her to go and sin no more.

It is when Christians exhort others to [insert behavior modification/action here] and THEN - by the way - "you now need to start showing signs of heart-change"...that we fail to get past the superficial - because our faith is just that - superficial.

Is there really any difference between the Westboro Baptist followers and the average Western Christian? Don't they just focus on external behaviors in a more obnoxious way than most mainstream Christians? Is there really any theological or doctrinal difference between their hateful signs and telling a person they have to quit smoking, drinking, sleeping with their boyfriend/girlfriend, attend Church at least once a week, close your eyes when you pray, etc. before God will bless them? Aren't we insinuating to new believers or unbelievers that God disapproves of them if they aren't currently living up to our expectations? Aren't we telling them that their outward deportment is more important than their heart and soul? Aren't we telling them that behavior is more important than embracing their eternal Father? It's no different, in principle, than the hateful Westboro followers.

I'm not saying smoking, drunkenness, etc. are healthy - I'm saying we rarely need to address them because they are usually taken care of AFTER a person has bathed in God's mercy and begins to act on the gratefulness that flows from their new heart. It's a lot harder for the church to let God do this work but He's much better at it. :) It's much easier to try to mold and shape new believers into homogenized clones that act, behave, and come to faith in Christ just like we did.

My point is this: if Jesus didn't come to judge people and condemn sinners - then maybe our tack should be similar. Let's share Good News. Let's share love. Let's share Jesus. Screw the small box we put God in!