Welcome back world! Here is the second unofficially official publication of my thoughts to the internet. Y’all were so kind with the feedback from last week’s post and I can’t thank you enough for even clicking on the link, let alone showing me so much love in return. I am elated with the thought that the Lord could have used me to spread a message of kindness. Last week’s post brought over 10,000 viewers to my site, and I am utterly speechless. I hope to continue the trend with this post and hopefully touch a heart or two with these thoughts.
Each of my ramblings have been inspired by a sermon here and a song there, maybe even a podcast. This week’s came from a book called The Shack. I read this book for the first time when I was in the 10th grade, and naturally my adolescent brain only derived about half of the meaning from the book. I reread it again about four months ago when the movie was set to be released, and it was a life changer. The second time around, I didn’t just read the words for the story, but for the symbolism. I didn’t read it like a book, but I opened my heart and received it like the lesson I needed. While it is an extremely powerful novel in itself, it truly revolutionized my view of my relationship with Christ. I would recommend the book AND the movie, and for once in my bookworm life, they are a perfect fit for each other. The movie was a beautiful illustration of all the book has to offer. This post wasn’t intended to be a book/movie review, because if it were I promise I would write a novel of my own just raving about the book itself. I just want to give credit where credit is due, and one particular part of the movie really set my train of thought on fire.
There is a scene in the movie where the main character is asked to sit in the seat of judgement. He is shown vastly different people, and must judge whether or not they are worthy of going to Heaven or deserving of being sentenced to Hell. He is faced with rapists, murderers, thieves, and even his own abusive father. He is asked the criteria he uses for his judgement, and he replies with if the person harms him or his family, they are bad. If not, they are good. This black and white approach is what he uses to justify “sending” these people to spend an eternity in Hell. Of course, he is not actually deciding the fate of these souls for eternity, but being taught a lesson by God. The whole situation is brought to light when this man is asked to choose which of his children gets to go to Heaven and which must go to Hell. As any parent would, he is distraught and is unable to choose. As he begs to go to Hell in their place, he realized the horrible pain the Lord endures because of our sins each day. How in the world is a parent supposed to choose one child deserving of an eternity in Heaven?? This is the exact same battle our Heavenly Father grappled with before He sent His son to go in our place. In ALL of our places. Because of humanity’s immense sins, not one of us was deserving of salvation. Our Father did this out of pure love, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. If anyone heard my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world." {John 12:46-47}
The bible says “let him without fault cast the first stone,” {John 8:7} Reality is that the only person to ever walk the Earth without fault was Jesus Christ, and we all know the way that story ended. Rather than using his perfect position to cast blame on humanity or scorn us for our sins, He took them all away. He bore the weight, the burden, the shame and the pain of every sin committed before he walked the Earth to forevermore. If I think of the guilt my own heart carries for the sins committed in my young life, I am absolutely astonished at the thought of holding the sorrow of every single heart at one time. Jesus did that for us. Not for the pride, the accolades, the recognition. He did it so each and every one of His Heavenly brothers and sisters could one day join him in Heaven. & just like that, every sin I have ever and have yet to commit was washed away and I was made new.
With all of that in mind, how can I possibly think myself worthy of passing judgement on anyone else? I am just as guilty and as ridden with sin as the next person. Through Heavenly eyes, we are all sinners and are all equal. No one man’s sin is greater than the next. If the only blameless One says that another’s sin is no worse than mine, who am I to say otherwise? Who am I to decide that someone else is not worthy of salvation when God’s mercy determined that I was?
We live in a world on display. Between the news, social media, and our need for constant stimulation, we are surrounded with the happenings of the world and of others. Our sinful nature and our stunning lack of grace means that we are able to seamlessly look beyond our own sins and “throw stones” at others for theirs. I’ll say it again because I personally need to hear it again; no one is less deserving of salvation because they sin differently than me.
It is no secret that the world is full of controversy, from politics to gender identity to sexuality to racism and beyond. Barely an hour passes between one breaking news story of a protest to the next. Each day the amount of intolerance grows and love diminishes. I want to ask the world as a whole, myself included, when did arguing become our preferred method of communication? When did all of our words become riddled with hate? When did we lose respect for any opinion that differs slightly from our own? While there is a great many things about society today I and my religion do not agree with, that does not give me the right to tell others they are wrong, let along become hostile and hateful about it. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building each other up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." {Ephesians 4:29} I must ask myself what will do more good in spreading the message of the gospel, telling someone they are wrong and that their lifestyle is not biblically correct, or loving them the way that Jesus does? Fighting fire with fire will only cause more destruction. My Father holds our world in its’ chaotic entirety in His hands, and that is enough for me. My role is to pray, pray, and pray some more for the world we live in and leave it where it lies, in His hands.
The bottom line: if I were meant to be in a position of judgement, I would be seated upon a throne in Heaven. Lucky for the me and the rest of the world, the One who actually holds that role has quite a bit more grace than I do. I vow to not be one more voice speaking hate into our world and promote love every chance I get.
