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Lynch Mob

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

Scott walked into the bedroom to grab something before going back out into the front room to watch the end of the baseball game. What does any good wife do at a time like that? Well, she starts a debate with him on the most pressing current pop culture news story because now is as good a time as any. I am good like that. We begin discussing the issue and Scott, being the good debater that he is, kept pushing me to see the other side. I am a stubborn debater and don't succumb to another's points easily. This time, however, he led me to see his side. He used to joke with me about a book he had to read in his master's program called, "How to Change People's Minds," was a book he was reading for me. He's a funny one. Of course the baseball game was over by the time we finished our debate. I felt slightly guilty but enjoyed the tussle.

We cannot keep up with the debatable, pressing, polarizing issues that occur daily in our world. It seems there is always something going on; something we have to work through stumbling trying to wrap our heads around the atrocities of our day and the sins of our culture. We all turn on the news or read our Facebook feed shocked in horror at the next big story yet not surprised something bad has happened once again or that a "good" person has made a horrible decision. We easily forget that we live in a fallen world where evil slips in easily and unnoticed until after the rampage. So often, too often, we turn immediately to an attitude of, "I would never," instead of, "How can I be a positive light."

The Bible talks extensively about sin. Story after story of people who have stumbled and fallen fill the pages. You cannot read the Bible without reading about the peril of the people. From gossip to idolatry to adultery to lust, lying, spite, drunkenness, envy, judgment, and on and on the people of the Word struggled just like we do today. What makes us different? Why do we think our world is any different than theirs? We know better? We've read their stories so we should learn and live differently, right? Yet, we all still sin and fall short every single day. We all have skeletons. And then the big story hits: someone somewhere has sinned. They have made a choice that has come to the surface and there we sit. What will we do? What should we do? In John 8:6, the Bible says, "And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Many of us are familiar with this story and verse. The leaders of the time brought an adulterous woman to Jesus to test him. The law stated one caught in adultery shall be stoned. Yet, Jesus didn't pick up his rock. No. He picked up His grace.

What do we do when someone sins? Do we jump on social media and bash the poor soul screaming our opinions from our keyboard? We preach grace. We talk love. But we sit with our satchels on our hip full of stones ready to launch. Where is our love, our grace, our redemption? Where is Jesus in us in times like these? One of my favorite authors and speakers, Jen Hatmaker, posted a quote that read, "People may hate us because of Jesus, but let's not give them a reason to hate Jesus because of us." Our job isn't to judge. Our job isn't to give our opinion. Our job isn't to rally people on our side. Our job is to show Jesus and Jesus didn't pick up His stone. Jesus calmed. He quieted the emotionally charged catastrophe and humbly brought grace. He didn't justify the action(s) of the sinner. He didn't tell the sinner how wrong they were and what type of punishment he or she deserved. He came humbly, full of mercy, and justly gave redemption to those who so desperately needed it. And "those" sinners include you and me.

We are not called to determine the proper punishment; the one we believe fits the crime. We are not called to debate our opinions on the matter. We are not called to tell people how wrong they are or fix the problem. We are called to humbly show the love of Christ as someone once showed us because, "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). You and I common folk have the awesome privilege of keeping our list of sins hidden from the world. Yes, we deal with our sins and live with the consequences of our actions. But, I am fairly certain we don't staple a list of our past sins onto the back of our resume. We don't have to. Jesus took care of that for us. Psalm 103:12 says, "He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west." Why then, do we throw stones at others when their skeletons are revealed?

Christians, lay the satchel down. Put the stones away. Pick up grace. Be humbled by your Savior who once calmed your storm loving you through sacrifice so you could be free.

Love & Blessings,
Meg

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