Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I.” John 8:10-11b (NLT)
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. I John 4:18 (NLT)
Growing up in the buckle of the Bible belt and attending Southern and Independent Baptist churches, there was one thing I keenly felt – the fires of hell licking at my heels and the grasp of satan dragging me there. Sure, I heard that God loved me. That, however, was in spite of the fact that I was a sinful wretch and worm who deserved nothing more than to be condemned. If I did not believe in certain facts about Jesus Christ properly then the just wrath of God would not hesitate to dump me right in satan’s lap.
But what if the good news, which is what the word Gospel means, that Jesus was trying to tell us was saying something totally different? What if He was saying that this idea of condemnation is a negative thing that leads into a downward spiral of guilt and shame? What if He was trying to lift us out of a quagmire of condemning ourselves to keep us from lashing out with condemnation and judgment of others? What if the tradition I was raised in was wrong in its concept of accept God’s love to escape His punishment? What if it is actually a case of we have been created in love so we can love? What might be some of the ways this can change our lives?
Let me share some major ways that it has made a difference in mine.
When I see a rainbow flag displayed I no longer feel any negative reaction. It is not a statement of someone blatantly taking pride in a sinful choice. Rather, it is a courageous shout of victory from someone who has realized that this is the way they have been created and there is nothing to be ashamed of or repent from because of it. The more I feel that I am loved and not condemned for who I am the more I am able to affirm and be an ally with these who have been treated with so much hate and condemnation.
When I see a person of color kneeling as the national anthem is played I hurt for them. As a former Marine I am not angry at what I once would have seen as an inexcusable act of disrespect. The more I am able to feel loved rather than condemned the more I am able to open my ears and heart to the cries of a people who have been and are being treated in abusive, atrocious ways. I see them on bended knee in a pleading prayer to a God and a nation fervently hoping that their painful, shameful treatment can be peacefully ended. While I might not kneel myself, I fully support their cause.
When I see a person in religious garb different from what I grew up with calling to the Divine by a name other than what I was taught he should be called I no longer feel sadness for a lost heathen or anger at a godless infidel. I have come to often embrace the line from Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” in which it is said, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” The Christian tradition in which I grew up knew that everyone who did not believe what they did about Jesus Christ was going to hell.
What if God is a LOT bigger than we think? What if He is truly about love and not condemnation?
Think about it.
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