The
Blood of Jesus
But
if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. – 1 John
1:7
Who is a
so-called “good” Christian? What does it look like for flawed people to follow
a good God? Can we ever get it right? Can we ever reach a point where we can
indeed judge others on their faith journey?
The United
Methodist Church has suffered hundreds of disaffiliations in the district to
which I’m a part of. Some churches have gone without any bitterness or harsh
words. Others have gone – or stayed – with a battle that left all who participated
wounded deeply in their desire to be right.
Disagreements
happen among believers. And while the Bible warns us against division amongst ourselves,
it’s something we do on a regular basis. We are so focused on being right that
we lose sight of love and grace.
There are
those who are determined to pull sentences from the Bible and use them as
weapons with which to judge others. The more someone else makes them
uncomfortable, the harsher the criticism. Aren’t we all guilty of that?
Recently a
pastor I’ve known for years decided to leave the UMC and return to a previous
church. His decision rests between he and God. Still, I can understand the bitterness
of those left behind. On Sunday, they had a pastor passionate in his stated desire
to remain in the UMC and by Wednesday he was resigning to leave the UMC. It’s
just one more reason why we don’t put our faith in humans.
But what
really pushed my button was the response of a young woman in the newly
disaffiliated church where he’s headed. She took to Facebook to rant about
those who felt the need to make comments about his leaving the UMC church to
which he’d been assigned. She even called out those “Christians” – and, yes,
she put the word in quotation marks – for saying anything beyond
congratulations. In her mind, anyone who criticized the pastor wasn’t really a
Christian.
Whoa! Wait a
minute! Let’s step back and look at the facts and the obvious disappointment
that comes when someone you trusted with your Biblical teaching has suddenly
changed course.
No. People
shouldn’t have gone to Facebook to voice their displeasure. As I said, his
decision rests between him and God. No one else. God looks at the heart and He
alone will judge the motivations at play.
But in
failing to acknowledge the pain of others, this young woman raised a red flag
over her own life. She ignored the lies, half-truths and fearmongering that led
to her church’s disaffiliation vote. She swept under the rug her own flaws and
her own quick temper to point out the flaws of others. Anyone else remember that
Scripture? (Matthew 7:5)
We are all
so busy being right that we’ve forgotten who we are – and who we are not. We don’t
know the hearts of others, including other Christians. We don’t know the
motivations. We don’t know if they are saved by Jesus or are still lost. We
don’t.
What we do
know is that James tells us salvation should lead to good works. We aren’t
saved by good works but salvation should be evident in who we are and what we
do. We should strive to show Jesus to others in how we live.
There are no
winners when God’s kingdom divides itself in a misguided attempt to be “right.”
None of us are “right” without the blood of Christ. We are all sinners. We all
fall short of the glory of God. Perhaps if we spent more time remembering that
and less time judging people we disagree with, all of us could indeed show
others the light of Jesus in our lives.
