Judge Not?

 Good Christian

I was on Fakebook earlier today and saw some comments on a friend’s post. The friend had shared a list of ingredients that are contained in a flu shot to just get people thinking about what they put in their body. Some people commented that they had gotten a flu shot and some said they never get one and this friend had ‘liked’ all the comments and was not trying to push his opinion on anyone, just sharing information, which people do all the time. I’ve come to find, on social medial, there is always that one person who is going to take things to the extreme. Someone had commented that it’s great if they don’t need a flu shot, but what about other people that needed life-saving medicines, like chemo, that was full of bad stuff, does that mean that they shouldn’t get that. The friend simply told this person hello and thanks for stopping by (trying to avoid debating or defending any stance). Then the commentator sent another response to say that it was nice they thought Americans getting sick and dying from COVID are funny to them and finished by telling the friend to keep up the posts about what a “good” Christian they think they are.

Let me be the first to say, that as a Christian, the thoughts that run through my head are very often not Christian-Like. I’m going to be candid here. I wanted to comment, something not very nice, but my better senses told me to not engage in that type of immaturity.  

Anyway, the point I really want to touch on here was this person’s comment about acting like the “good” Christian they think they are. Naturally, that got me a bit fired up, but also, it just made me want to address something about Christians to Non-Christians and that is, “Christians are not perfect!!” Suprise!!! More importantly, most Christians, don’t think they are anywhere close to perfect. We are not always even good, or think we are so good. This is kind of the whole point of needing Jesus. He is the perfect One. He is the One who sacrificed His life for us because we are so incredibly sinful. This does not mean we go out and intentionally do bad things because we get some kind of ‘free pass’, but we will make mistakes. That doesn’t mean that we should be shamed for continuing to spread the love, grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. We do not do this to get a ‘pat on the back’ for being so righteous and amazing. Oftentimes we are mocked and made fun of for our beliefs, but because we know what it looks like to be forgiven and because we have come to know our Savior on a personal level and are incredibly grateful for all that He has done for us, we will continue to try and share His message of love and hope. It's not for our own personal gain. We have already accepted the gift that Christ has given. We do it for the unbeliever, so that you might also come to have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. We will continue to share about Christ’s love. We will continue to be mocked, because we are running a race for eternity. We not only care about what happens to you in the 100 years or less that you might have here on earth, but we even care about what happens to you after that, for eternity. Are we going to sometimes say things or share things that people don’t agree with? Of course, because again, we are only human. We have the Holy Spirit, but we still have this thing called ‘free will’ and we’re bound to screw up now and then. If you want to know what it means to be a “Good Christian”, then there is ONLY ONE person you can take any tips from, and that is Jesus. Pick up a Bible or download a Bible app. Read His words, learn what He has to say about how we should live. In John 8:7 Jesus tells the crowd that is condemning an adulterous woman, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her”.

 So, before you start in on condemning others, whether you call yourself a Christian or whether you are a mocker of Christians, consider if you are perfect and if you find that you are not, put down the stone.