It has come to my attention that, for being a precious lot of Christians, we don't act very Christlike.
If your past is buried deep in the recesses of history, sometimes you'll get off without a shunning. But if you've made some serious mistakes in the not - so - distant past, or are even, perhaps, working through some issues currently, be prepared for the fire hose of Christian judgmentalism to blast you full force.
We find out that a girl ran away with her boyfriend, or a young man came out of the closet, or someone's been diagnosed with a mental illness, abused drugs, self harmed, was an alcoholic, was raped, was abused....you name it....and immediately their entire family is the subject of intense scrutiny, shame, and disdain.
And y'know, it's painfully ironic how we call ourselves Christians - followers of Christ - and yet, Christ never did any of that judgmental shunning which we are pro's at.
Not once, in any of his encounters with the hurting, the broken, those living in open sin, did He condemn.
Not. Once.
His response to them was a consistent "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more."
And it's pitiful the way Christians are so quick to judge and condemn.
Especially if someone is no longer living in sin, and has repented and desires to do the hard work of either recovery or rebuilding or just turning away from their sin! But too often, instead of supporting, encouraging, and rallying around the individual and their family, they become outcasts!
Show me where, in the Bible, Jesus refused to talk to someone because they had sinned.
Show me where, in the Bible, Jesus shunned an entire family because one member was living in sin.
Show me where, in the Bible, Jesus condemned a sinner.
Show me where, in the Bible, Jesus turned away a sinner on the basis of their sin.
Show me where, in the Bible, Jesus turned away a sinner on the basis of their sin.
Show me!
...oh, that's right, you can't because those verses DON'T EXIST!
Look at how Jesus treated Mary Magdalene, the Samaritan Woman, the woman caught in adultery, Zacchaeus...and I could go on!
Jesus never kicked the wounded, Jesus never scorned those who had repented, Jesus never ever ever would say to someone who had sinned and was now repentant, "Well, tough luck, you've screwed up too badly for me to ever let you live it down".
Why can't we, as Christians, simply let bygones be bygones, give people a second chance, and freaking move on with life!
I must say, I for one am colossally sick of Christian judgmentalism.
For heaven's sake - literally - can't we at least attempt to live and act like Christ?!
Otherwise, why call ourselves Christians?
Perhaps a better term would be Pharisee...hypocrite...liar.
Because if we don't act like Him, if we don't live like Him, if we don't love like Him, we aren't truly Christians.
We just aren't.
<3 Tirzah
Jesus never kicked the wounded, Jesus never scorned those who had repented, Jesus never ever ever would say to someone who had sinned and was now repentant, "Well, tough luck, you've screwed up too badly for me to ever let you live it down".
Why can't we, as Christians, simply let bygones be bygones, give people a second chance, and freaking move on with life!
I must say, I for one am colossally sick of Christian judgmentalism.
For heaven's sake - literally - can't we at least attempt to live and act like Christ?!
Otherwise, why call ourselves Christians?
Perhaps a better term would be Pharisee...hypocrite...liar.
Because if we don't act like Him, if we don't live like Him, if we don't love like Him, we aren't truly Christians.
We just aren't.
<3 Tirzah
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