There are times when the Christian life feels very much like walking a tightrope. I'm sure it comes about in any number of different ways, but there is one tightrope in particular that I'm currently trying to negotiate...
On one hand, I know that as Christians we are told very strongly not to judge others (because if we do, we come under God's judgement ourselves), and we are told not to worry about the specks in someone else's eye and instead to worry about the log in our own. We know that we are all sinners, everyone of us, and that all sins are the same in God's eyes, and therefore we have no right, no place to judge other people.
But then, as God's people, and particularly as the community of his believers that is the Church, we are called to be holy, to live according to his ways, not to conform to the ways of the world, to try even as we know we will fail, to live up to the sinless life of Jesus who is our role-model. And part of that has to be for the community to stand together and say that actually, this action or that action is wrong, even if society as a whole is trying to tell us that its okay, to make it clear that God's way, God's perfect plan, is different to the worldly way and we want to live it.
The tightrope then to walk is the fine balance in the middle - being able to stand up and say, and say it clearly, that there is an absolute standard of right and wrong in this world, and actually, none of us live up to it. But at the same time, because none of us can live up to it, we need to recognise those that are trying, despite their sinfulness. We need to accept them, to welcome them, to love them, as the precious children of God that they are, even if there are aspects of their life that we just can't agree with - because actually, even if we don't like it, there are aspects of my life that God wouldn't agree with, and it doesn't matter what the respective items are, they're all the same to Him.
I don't want a church which ignores peoples' sin, a church which refuses to stand up and say that something is wrong, and actually, I don't think we do anyone any favours if we pretend that everything is alright and that actually anything goes. But equally, I don't want a church you can only be a member of once you've got your life in order, sorted everything out and have no issues left - it would be a pretty small church and I know I wouldn't be allowed in!
Above all, we need to recognise that God deals with us as individuals, he leads us on in our Christian journey and deals with sin in the way that is best for us, not for people around us. Our place is to stand alongside our brothers and sisters and help them as God gently leads them on, to love them, sinners just like us, even as we hate their sins, remembering all the while that next time, it might just us that needs their love.
I came across this quote from Adrian Plass the other day which sums the tightrope walk up in a way I could never manage...
"For those engaged on the journey of life there are three options. On one side are the impassable rocks and mountains of the law. No good taking that route. It's too difficult and you won't, can't make it. On the other side is the swamp of licence. It looks okay on the surface, but try going that way and you'll sink down and suffocate and die.
Right down the middle runs the narrow path of grace, a way that springs from the undeserved kindness of God, and is individually designed for each persion who needs it.... Grace is creative, relational, constructive, surprising and redemptive, and each of us is responsible for offering it to the people we encounter."
No comments:
Post a Comment