Fixing Christianity One dose at a time---Que the intro:
MUSIC INTRO
Welcome to Christian capsules Season 2 Capsule #5
Here we are Fixing Christianity One dose at a time.
All scripture is read from NASB 95 Edition.
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Today we are talking about Christians and how they judge others according to their pre-Christian sins.
Problem
There have been several instances recently that I have come across where Christians are holding past sins against a person, based on the type of sin/s they did before they were Christian.
Dangerous Practice
Let me just say this off the jump: It is extremely dangerous to judge like this. The Bible explains why.
Read Slow
7 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and [a]by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
Matthew 7:1-2
The Bible paints a clear warning about how we judge others. The verse starts with a stark warning to “Do not…”. Don’t bother judging, so it won’t happen to you. The bad part is the 2nd verse. How we judge will is how we will be judged.So, what does that mean?
It means if we use prejudices in our judgement, we will have that as a measurement back to us. And that should scare us. It should scare us so much that we should abandon all reckless or biased judging.I not saying that it is easy to do. In fact, I ‘ve been guilty of it myself. I have used a person’s background against them because of my own fears, and not out of spiritual wisdom.
Have we done this:
1) How many times have we said to ourselves or to someone else: “I understand he is a Christian now, but wasn’t he in jail for murder? Yeah, better not let your guard down around that guy.”
2)
Or maybe we have said: “Yeah, he maybe a Christian now, but wasn’t he charged with Child pornography? Better not give him position of power in church, better yet watch your children around that guy.”
3) “Didn’t that guy use to be an alcoholic, so what is he doing driving the church van? I There is forgiveness and then there is brains.”
We are hypocritical by nature is seems. We hold others down for past sins, yet we ourselves have come from many sins of our own and yet we still hold staff or voluntary leadership positions at church, and still get mad when people hold our past against us. C’mon Christians, get it together.
If we are doing this type of judgement to our own Christian brothers, that must mean that we either do not believe Jesus when he says our sins are remembered no more; or we do not care those sins are gone, but we still gonna be prejudice and judge with the eyes of men.
And if we are doing this to some of our Christian brothers, then we are doomed to judge all unbelievers with an unfair eye more often then not.
However, we must remember that all of us as Christians came from a life of non-repentant sinners. And when we became born again, we become citizens of heaven. Those sins once repented of, have been forgiven and wiped off the board. God remembers them no more.
So, the question becomes:
If God does not hold those past sins against me because of Jesus, then why should we do that to other Christians? Let us dive further in.
Examples
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Jacob
Didn’t Jacob cause havoc in his past life with Esau and his father?
Jacob struggled with sins of self-reliance, deceit, and trickery until his battle with God. Until he surrendered to God. Remember Jacobs wrestle with God?
And yet God did not hold his past against him.
Jesus
When the woman was caught in the act of adultery (perhaps here say or smear campaign) Jesus did not hold it against her and at that point actually considered her repentant because he said “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
Matthew
Wasn’t Matthew a scheming tax collector, stealing money and breaking the backs of working hard Jews?
Didn’t Jesus call him to apostleship?
Peter
Peter we all know denied Jesus three time and was foretold that he would do so. But what does Jesus do after he reassures Peter that not only is he forgiven of his past but is restored by being setup as the beginning of the church. Jesus does not hold Peter to his denial of Jesus past. This was huge for Peter in restoring confidence but also reaffirms the love of the savior to the sinner who has been redeemed.
Paul
Didn’t Paul, who used to be called Saul, a murderer of Christians (Acts 9) and was responsible for Stephen’s death?
Yet Paul became the New Testament’s most prolific author and Apostle. Jesus did not hold Saul/Paul sins against him but instead raised him up to the most prestigious post that a member of God can have and gave him ultimate power through the Holy Spirit that was awe inspiring.
If Jesus does not hold our past sins against us; then we should do the same to people who become Christians, because their sins were wiped off the books like ours was. Otherwise, we will have a church that has no members that can be trusted, nor can anyone hold any post or office inside the church fabric; such as church staff and then we might as well be not a church at all.
Lastly, consider how that person feels that you have showed prejudice to, being bias is a quick way to lose many potential church members.
My name is Jermaine, and I will talk to you next time.