Hypocrites

I could see a lot of Christians getting really upset at my posts. Anyone close to me knows how vocal I am about calling people on their crap. And if you're a people, you have crap! It comes with the species. So in this post, I will try to gently explain why acting above reproach in haughty and pretentious ways is damaging to Christians and non-Christians alike. Here we go.

I firmly believe that human beings have an unquenchable desire for justice for a reason. I have never met or heard of someone who would ever even THINK "that murderer shouldn't be punished." Substitute murderer for anything else. Rapist, thief, abuser, etc. When we see a wrong, we want it righted. My speculation as to why this is the case, is that since human beings were made in God's image, that's where that need for justice comes from. (Genesis 1:27 - "So God created man in his own image...") And as human beings, we let people down, hurt others, and fall short every single day. Imagine how much greater God's desire for Justice is. Seeing His creation constantly hurting each other, AND Him.

A place we can also see this coming into play in our culture today, in 2021, is through Cancel Culture. People have dug into the pasts of celebrities trying to unearth any wrongdoing, sometimes dating back over a decade ago, just to point fingers and proclaim the evil that person had exhibited. Companies and people stop endorsing anyone who could potentially harm their brand by not fitting the picture perfect image that our society says you MUST have. To an extent, this is good. Extending beyond that, it is overreaching and overreacting. I am VERY glad that I'm not a celebrity. Imagine the constant scrutiny.

Confidently I might assume that most people, church-going or non-church-going, have heard "don't throw the first stone" even if they don't necessarily know what it's from -- almost as a form of "don't judge." I want to dive into this concept briefly, because it's such a delicate balance and I want to share what Jesus was trying to do in that scenario.

Here is the passage -- John 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him....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.”...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. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Speaking of scrutiny...goodness! Jesus was under constant scrutiny. People were always trying to trap Him in contradictions. (Sounds a lot like the people who claim the Bible is full of contradictions...which it isn't! If you wanna talk more about that, my DMs are open.) But let me expand on this actual story. These were religious leaders bringing the adulterer to Jesus in a pretentious and haughty way. (Maybe I'll do a post soon about my distaste for religion and why so many people have walked away from religion because of religious people. Jesus does NOT equal religion. You can try to paint religion nicely if you want to, but we cannot ignore the facts and stats, or what the Bible and JESUS have to say about it all. Okay, mini rant over.) They were so caught up in pointing fingers. So caught up in trying to get Jesus to stumble over His words. And Jesus turned everyone's attention to their own baggages, shortcomings, and wrongs. Why were they focusing on her?? Or even using her hurts to make Jesus look ineligible??

Did you notice??? How Jesus is perfect and had never sinned and He could have technically thrown the first stone at the woman??? But He did not. He looked her in her eyes and had compassion for her. He saw her in the middle of her hurts, in the midst of others judging her, and spoke life into her. The cool thing about Jesus is that He sees you and loves you where you are. But notice verse 11. At the very end of that passage, He affirms to her that He does not condemn her. But then He calls her higher and declares that she leaves that sin behind.

How profound. I am so grateful that we have a God that responds that way.

We must remember that there are certain parameters and rules (do's and don'ts, if you will) to protect us. Our hearts are fragile little things. We can harm ourselves and others so easily. Just like you give certain rules to your own children, that's how God is with us. It's for our good, not to restrict or torture us.

Josh Weidmann has a great post about this scripture. I will list some of his main points below.

• "[Jesus] is establishing righteousness on the foundation of God’s grace, not man’s obedience to the Law of Moses."

• "God’s Mercy is higher than the Law of the Sabbath or of Circumcision—He is all about His own grace and mercy, not our perfection or obedience."

• "Jesus forced them to expose their own misuse of the Law and by doing so make the need for God’s mercy evermore clear. The Law of Moses was originally given by God so that people may live in righteousness—not evil. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it—because you and I never could. He met the holy expectations of God, appeased His wrath and then applied His righteousness to us. No longer were people saved based on obedience, but Jesus established righteousness on the basis of His of grace. The story at the beginning of John 8 points us to the message of the whole New Testament: Pursuing holiness without a profound experience of the grace of Jesus Christ in our own lives produces hypocrisy and doctrinaire cruelty."

Shoutout to Josh Weidmann for practically writing this post for me! LOL just kidding. But really.

So WHY are so many Christians putting themselves on pedestals when they're just as guilty as everyone else? Pride is an ugly thing.

I have my moments (my mom in particular knows this hahaha) where I am personally hurt by the wrongs of other people so I point fingers at them, sharing why they are in the wrong and hurting others. And while we are called to sometimes call that out of fellow believers (Galatians 6:1 "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted."), stoning is NOT the approach. Paul says to do so GENTLY. I have touched on a similar train of thought in other posts regarding non-Christians. 1 Corinthians 5:12 "For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?" In my Lines Some Christians Cross post, I talk about how we are sooooo quick to want to keep the world to Jesus' standards, when they haven't even chosen to follow His standards in the first place.

Matthew 7:3-5 says "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

We are definitely called to help refine each other if we hold the same beliefs. But hypocrisy is never the answer. And even Jesus, who had never done anything wrong in his whole life, didn't cast a stone. He just called her higher.

I have had many conversations with fellow believers about hypocrisy and also this "holier than thou" mentality. Sometimes Christians can come across as pretentious, pompous, and imperious to people outside AND inside the church. It's just very off-putting. We can set ourselves apart without trying to look like some renaissance painting. I wish more people desired a balance. If you're set apart to the point where you think you ARE God, or have no humility, or are untouchable, how do you expect to ever reach lost people? AND how do you expect to connect genuinely to fellow believers? Where's the vulnerability and honesty? If you portray yourself as perfect, no one will want to grow with you. You can't grow if you think you've already made it.

This is NEVER the goal. How about we come across like Jesus did, with compassion and understanding.

Justice is a GOOD thing. But we are not perfect.

Deuteronomy 32:4

"He is the Rock, His works are perfect,

and all His ways are just.

A faithful God who does no wrong,

upright and just is He."

God is the ultimate Judge. He has the final say in the end. Let's refine each other. Let's not throw stones anymore. Let's get off the high horse and share the Good News we have with others.