I have found one of the biggest road blocks to people getting to know Jesus and follow His teachings is Christians. They are supposed to lead others to Jesus but instead they chase people away by misrepresenting the grace and love of God.
In the time of Jesus if you were condemned to death by the Jewish community and Levitical Law the form of carrying out the death sentence was public stoning. What I have come to find is that many of the physical things and events of the bible represent spiritual truths and lessons for us today. And public stoning for us represents us publicly condemning or judging another. And that's what many Christians do. They judge or condemn others thinking that pointing out others faults will somehow make them see they need Jesus. Problem is it doesn't work.
What does it say in 1 John 4:7, 8 about those who follow Jesus? They should walk in Love
1John 2:6, He who says he abides in Him ought himself also walk just as He walked. The He is Jesus so we should look at Jesus as our model. So if we want to be Contagious Christians we should look at what Jesus said and did as a model for how we love.
When Jesus encounters people who are living a sinful lifestyle how does He go about dealing with their immorality?
If we look at the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 He does not dwell on the fact she lives an immoral life. He does not judge or condemn. Jesus said in John 12:47, “I came not to judge the world but to save the world.” And in Luke 6:37 Jesus said, “Judge not and ye shall not be judged, condemn not and ye shall not be condemned.”
Jesus takes it a step further when He encounters the woman caught in the act of adultery in John 8. Not only does He not speak condemnation but He defends her against those who do.
The story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:20 can show us what the Fathers heart is like. When the son who went astray came back we see the father running out to meet him. Why would he run and not wait? I believe Deuteronomy 21:18-21 gives us a clue. It says if a man has a stubborn and rebellious son the men of the city shall stone him to death. So I feel he ran to protect the son from the stones.
So are we going to be stone throwers or stone shields to those who we encounter?
Jesus gave nothing but grace to the sinners who lived immoral lives. The only ones he gave out judgment and condemned were the religious ones who lacked humility and pointed out other faults. Jesus said “I will make you fishers of men”. We are just here to catch the fish not clean the fish.
In the end we all sin and the penalty for all sin is the same. No one is better or less of a sinner in Gods eyes. Jesus took off His clothes to wash the feet of the apostles. We are not to cover up our faults when helping others. Jesus showed us how to do it in John 13. When He was cleaning the feet of the Apostles Jesus first took off his clothes. He showed them that He was a human too. That He was like them and then humbly served them. When we minister to others we are most effective when we share in a humble way and serve others. Good results happen when we show others the truth about ourselves that we are imperfect too. We have the best chance of them listening and receiving what we have found to cover them when they know we are just like them (sinners).
One more thing: Our walk will make more impact than our talk. Matthew 25:35-36 shows us we are to feed the hungry, put clothes on the naked, give a drink to the thirsty, take in the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned.
People won’t want what you share until they know you care.
