Psalm 25:8 (KJV) Says "Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will He teach sinners in the way." John 8:3-11(KJV) Says "And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had sat her in the midst, They say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, he lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again, He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." Matthew 9:11-12 (KJV) Says, "And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick."
The above passages of scripture discuss methods used by Jesus when dealing with sinners. In the first example taken from Psalm we see that the Lord is good, and upright, and that He teaches sinners or educates them on what they need to do, if they desire to live righteously. In the passage of scripture taken from Matthew the woman accused of committing adultery was caught in the very act so there was no doubt she was guilty, yet notice how Jesus handled the situation. He calmly ask who among her accusers was without sin, and instructed that person to throw the first stone. Jesus being all knowing was well aware they had all sinned, and that no one there could throw the first stone. Notice that when the woman was left alone with Jesus, that Jesus said only these few words to her after asking her the whereabouts of her condemners, He said "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." He didn't scream, yell, lecture her for an hour, nor did He attempt to make her feel as bad about herself as possible. He handled the situation with those few words. Finally, in Matthew notice that Jesus says that it is not the whole or those who already know Him that need help, but the sick or lost sinners, and that is why He is eating among them. With that said there are many Christians today who don't bother to take the time to witness to lost souls, but instead opt to stay within the comfort zone of their Christian friends, and keep the good news to themselves.
We can learn a great deal from the way Jesus dealt with people, and the issues that arose throughout scripture. He sat down with the sinners, ate with them, and talked with them. He didn't sit down with the Pharisees, and say things like look at that guy sitting at the end of the sinners table, with the marking on his arm, that marking is an abomination, and he could go to hell for that. He didn't sit down with the sinners, and start pointing out things about their outward appearance that he found sinful. My point is I actually had a young man say to me that he attended a new Church where one of the members came up to him during a welcoming period prior to the service, and all but condemned him to hell because he had a tattoo. What do you think was the next thing this young man said to me? He said "That is why I don't go to Church, Christians are so judgmental, and I'll never go back." Now this guy had gone to Church to hear God's word only to be convinced within the first minute or two of his arrival that he had made a terrible mistake in choosing to do so. He should have been welcomed, and encouraged to return, but that didn't happen. What a shame!
A few years ago I attended a Church for the first time where I had four or five members of their congregation seated to my right on the pew. They could not wait to inform me that they would love to take out a pair of scissors, and give the young man sitting in front of me a haircut. His hair was long, but I thought wow really? I couldn't help but wonder if these scissor happy individuals got as passionate about the message being delivered as they did the length of that young man's hair. I mean they were ready to take action. The way I saw it I had two choices, one I could join in the critiquing and point out the guy to my left with the nose ring, or I could politely say to the scissor club that I was just happy to see young people attending church. I went with the latter of course, and that resulted in dead silence to my right. My point is I could have led this conversation in two directions. I could have got on board with them, and directed their attention to the guy on my left with the nose ring adding fuel to their fire, or I could have politely added something to the conversation to make them think about what they were saying, which is what I chose to do. When I told them I was just happy to see young people in church, that did two things it prevented that young man from possibly overhearing them, and hopefully it made them pause and think about their behavior. No where in scripture does Jesus say to those He is about to teach that they must first receive an emergency haircut. I've also heard people, firsthand, talking about the make-up some girls wear to church, and the length of their dresses. For the record, I can't find it documented anywhere in scripture that Jesus sized up the outfits of the sinners he was dining with prior to teaching them His Word either.
We have far too many people wanting to lecture others with regards to their sins. While we do need to share the truth of God's word, timing, method, and approach are everything. With the wrong timing, method, and approach we can run people away from the Lord which is the polar opposite of what we as Christians should be attempting to accomplish.While here on earth, Jesus set an example for us on how to approach people as witnesses, and that example involved love, patience, kindness, understanding, and the desire in our hearts for them to come to know God. Not once did it involve condemnation, shallow critiquing of outward appearances, and like things. Ask yourself as a witness for the Lord are you leading people to Him with your behavior? or Are you pushing them further away?
If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.
No comments:
Post a Comment