John 8:10-11 - How Christ would deal with Social Division

John 8:10-11 “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.'”

This past week has seen an explosion in the theological and political world, and now it seems that everywhere you look, people claiming to be believers are beating the same drum of “Christ wouldn't allow this, Christ wouldn't condone this, Christ wouldn't tolerate this!”  The Church is divided over how to deal with sin, and in the process is making itself less relevant to the world. You see, the more we as believers focus on sin and the less we focus on the sinners, the less Christ-like we are and the more Pharisee-like we become.  We forget that Christ met the sinners where they were, the lame, the blind, the ill, the dead, even the lepers.  The Pharisees required “the sinful” to come to them, Christ went out to meet them.  When Christ chose His disciples, He chose them not from the theological colleges, the religious institutions, or from the important places, but instead He chose them from the humble and lowly. He chose based on their hearts, not on their social status or religious leanings!

When Jesus dealt with people, He approached them to heal them, the help them, to aid them, to better their life. He dealt with them in love and kindness, not anger and hate, and he dealt with all the hated. The passage I quoted from today deals with an adulterous woman, and He dealt with her as He dealt with everyone. He had every right to condemn her as a sinner, and to allow the Law to be followed. Instead He knew that He would be the fulfillment of the law for her, and so would take her place a couple years down the road.  He showed her mercy, grace, and love, and then told her to sin no more. He exampled how we are to deal with sin and sinners, and lest we forget that we should also remember how He dealt with us and our sin. He shows love and kindness, showering us with grace and mercy, and expects us to do better. We should act the same towards all others too.

Jesus stopped and healed Blind Bartimaeus when the crowd would pass him by. Jesus healed the invalid at the pool of Bethesda who had no one to carry him to the water when it was stirred. Jesus stopped a funeral caravan and raised the boy back to life. He went to a household in morning and raised the Elder's daughter, just as He healed the Centurion's son with merely a word. He healed the lepers and  showed them physical affection when no one else would. He healed on the Sabbath when no one else would bother. He hung out at whore-houses, taverns, and bars, eating with thieves, murders, adulterers, prostitutes, tax collectors, and anyone else who He knew had need. He dealt with the downtrodden and outcasts with respect, honor, and love. And all of them He challenged to go forward in life and leave their life of sin, just as He dealt with us and challenged us to do the same. He also calls us to follow in His footsteps in how we are to deal with the World, no matter who they are, no matter what they have done. We are to remember that we are the same as they, excepting that we know our Saviour and they have yet to meet Him.

This week, lets remember our Lord and His way of approaching sinners. He loved them, He cared for them, and He showed it. I am convinced that if Jesus were here today, He would more likely be at a gay pride parade, eating with drug-dealers, chilling with meth-heads, healing prostitutes, and talking and helping the homeless than He would be in church or on Christian Radio. His example to us is a constant challenge to our ways of thinking and a constant reminder for us to do the same: Help the sick, the wounded, the outcast, the outcast, the imprisoned, those not-like-us, and everyone around us with love, honor, respect, charity, mercy, and grace, all the while also showing them that life can be lived without sin, encouraging them to do the same.  This week, let us go forth in life and sin no more against our fellow men and women.