Authentic Mercy

John 8:1-30

“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:11

If these words from Jesus don’t sound unusual, perhaps you really haven’t thought about them. There is something drastically different between the mind of Jesus seen here than what is lived out among humanity.

With regards to sin, we generally fall into one of two camps as to how we treat people. The word ‘sin’ simply means disobeying God. For today’s discussion, let’s just talk about the things we consider to be wrong. Sin is not synonymous with ‘wrong’, but it might help us to get what’s going on if we do so for now.

When a person does something that we believe to be wrong, we generally respond very much the way we see the Pharisees treating the woman caught in adultery here in John 8. Something in us wants to throw stones, usually not literally, but metaphorically. Throwing stones was an act of judgement and condemnation, and our action is chosen or altered depending on the situation. If a political candidate is found to be a sexist pig, the stone you throw might merely be casting your vote for his opponent, or you may feel compelled to speak against them on social media. If a man is found to be a pedophile, you might want them locked up.

Apart from the way of Jesus, there is only one other way I’ve observed how we tend to treat others who do what’s wrong, and that is to condone the action itself. It has the appearance of being the loving thing to do. We have the capacity to embrace the individual, so long as we are persuaded, convinced in our conscience, or honestly believe that the actions of that person are fine. It’s a nicer form of conditional love.

Where else have you seen the attitude of Christ, but Christ Himself?

“No. I don’t approve of your sexual practices. Neither will I condemn you. Sin no more”

There is nothing in me that can be reasoned to think that Jesus is fine with this woman cheating on her husband. (As a side note, I’d like to know why her partner wasn’t brought forward) Living out this attitude of Christ is a tough gig. It’s difficult even to try and have His attitude. It’s also a challenge because even if you and I were capable of dealing with wrongdoers in this way, the world we live in would be rather inhospitable to us. The angry Pharisee types would accuse us of being unjust. The permissive condoning types would accuse us of being hateful.

Which are you? Do you get riled up at people who do wrong? Do you have to condone a person’s actions before you embrace them? Can you call sin – sin, embrace the person and call them to what is right? Jesus didn’t come to condemn, but to seek and to save. Don’t misunderstand that to mean that He’s fine with everything done by us, because He really isn’t.