Before the semester ended I had a chance to talk to a friend. She was kind of stranded at work which is kind of near her apartment but not walking distance and she left her wallet at home so she was really stranded. I picked her up and it was the end of the school year and we had a chance to talk a little because we aren't extremely close. However she said some interesting and also heart breaking things.....
We started talking and we soon began to talk about her experience in her Christian ministry in her school. She said she enjoys her Christian ministry now but last year she did not like it very much at all. In fact she stopped going for a little while because she kept getting this feeling that she was being judged and she simply did not like that feeling. Nobody would.
When I heard this it broke my heart. I think that's the worst thing that can ever happen! When a lost soul turns away from a chance of knowing Christ and His amazing grace because Christians let their sinful ways of judging others control them is terrible!
It doesn't matter what my friend did or did not do I feel that she should never even come close to experiencing something like this ESPECIALLY from Chrisitans! If anything she should feel the most at home when she is around Christians because just as we are not judged by our actions by Christ so we should not judge others of their actions! Instead we should be nurturing, caring, and loving those who are lost!
But because we are such fallen, sinful beings we don't accept those who are lost. Instead we judge them. Including myself, we think that we are better and we also think "why can't this person stop doing what he/she is doing?" Or we think "how can this person call him/herself Christian?" Or we go even further and say, "Why is this person in Church?! He/She does not belong here! He/She belongs out there with the lost indulging in sin!" You know what the sad truth is? When we say and think stuff like this we are totally ungrateful and neglect the love Christ has given to us. Those who are loved much will love much those who are not loved much will love little. We have been given the GREATEST love of all! So why do we judge people? We ourselves are not judged so why do we judge others as if we have some authority over them?! As I was thinking about all of this God reminded me of this specific verse in Mathew
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talentsg]">[g] was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.h]">[h] He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. 29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
This is all of us. We are loved so much but because we are such sinful beings we are so reluctant to give out this love. I think the people who suffer the most from our judging are the borderline Christians. It's the people who come out to church and try to get involved but they have their own personal struggles with certain sins and all us "good" Christians don't care about the fact that this person is trying his/her best to change his/her life. We should be celebrating and encouraging this person. But in most cases all we do is see the struggles and imperfections and just judge this person. And in some serious cases this person leaves the church and probably never wants to be part of a church ever again because of the scars he/she suffered.
I don't think this is what Christ had in mind when He saved us. I'm sure He did not save us so that we can be saved and judge those who are drowning and struggling. But He saved us so that we can save others. So that we can love, forgive, and encourage those who are drowning and struggling. Christ calls us to be the salt and light of the world, not to abuse our saltiness and our light, and definitely not to taunt others because we are a salt and light, but He calls us to share it. To use it to show the world of the amazing love of Christ!
Think about it.... what good is salt if it does not flavor food? It's just dust. What good is a flashlight if it does not illuminate a dark area? It is just a useless extra weight that you are carrying. And in my house when our salt loses its saltiness and when our flashlights stop working we throw them out because they are simply garbage.
We have been forgiven for our sins in the past, present, and future. Let us not forget of how far we have fallen and how much God has rescued us from. I believe once you truly understand how much you are forgiven then you stop judging people and you start forgiving and loving them as Christ loved you. It's like when someone does something nice for you it makes you want to do nice things for others. But when you don't appreciate the nice gesture you can care less to do nice things for others. Let us always remember of the love Christ has given us. Let that love bring us to our knees everyday so that we can truly be the salt and light of the world.
There's this quote that I found in my old youth group pastor's facebook. I believe that it describes the kind of life that all of us Christians should be living.
"Some wish to live within the sound of a church or chapel bell; i want to run a rescue yard within a yard of hell." - C.T. Studd
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