Magnifying the Sins of Others

MAGNIFYING THE SINS OF OTHERS

 

Jn.8: ¹⁰ 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?

¹¹ She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

This passage is one of hope, compassion, and redemption. But the evangelical Pharisees have often accentuated the word “Go and sin no more” instead of the obvious overall theme. In fact many evangelicals mirror the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees much more than they do the spirit of Jesus. Of course Jesus told the woman to go and sin no more, just like He has told us many, many times. And I now publicly ask all of us: Did we obey Him to the letter? Who among us can say with accuracy and truth that after we met Jesus we have never sinned since?

You see, in their haste to hold people to their own standard they minimize the compassion and redemption of Jesus. In fact it wouldn’t surprise us if those scribes and Pharisees who left stood nearby waiting to follow that woman so as to pounce upon her the moment she stumbled. Some of the most popular “Christian” blogs are a continuing exposé about the sins of others. And they invite a literal feeding frenzy from the self righteous, evangelical piranha who consistently feast at the bottom of the lake.

Oh how we love to share the misery of others. And when someone stumbles the some people treat it like a salve which ministers to the flesh and creates the falsehood that we ourselves would never do such a thing and we offer our disgust and outrage as evidence of our righteousness. But the issue is not are the sins of others as well as ours worthy of divine correction. No, the issue is who is qualified to spread the news like we are reporters for the National Enquirer? And it is one thing to do a documentary of someone’s sin, but it is another to confront false teachers and error. Do not confuse the two.

Let us ask ourselves this question: If that woman went away with a knowledge of who Jesus was, and if she set out to walk a different path, would Jesus reject her is she stumbled once again? If that be the case then heaven will be empty. Only God knows those that are His. But God knows something else as well. He knows all of His true children sometimes stumble. Sometimes it is a small sin, but sometimes it is a sin which brings reproach upon the faith. I have attempted in eight years on the internet to avoid rummaging through people’s personal failures. Let God deal with them.

But if you wish to follow that woman around there are many blogs which will gladly help you on that journey. But if we desire to follow the One who forgave her, then I suggest we pray for that woman and ourselves as we seek Christ through our occasional stumbles. And every time you stumble and ask Jesus to forgive you He will. And if you listen carefully you will hear Him say every time, “Go and sin no more”. I wish I could say I obeyed that command perfectly throughout my Christian journey, but I cannot.