Be Careful – You Might Get Dirty

A post I shared recently on Facebook really offended some people, more because of the title than anything else. The title of the post, written by somebody else, was, “I Don’t Want to Be a Christian Anymore.” I have gotten some private questions, and let me clarify – I am not leaving the faith, and I am still proud to call myself a Christ-follower. I am a Christian, and I love Jesus with all my heart. I also need everyone to understand that this post had nothing to do with current politics. This was not a statement that we should wink at the most recent Supreme Court decision, nor was it the opposite – that we should publicly crucify those who celebrate it. The world is full of hate – on both sides of the fence. I don’t have any desire to even weigh in on what I think.

The only thing I will say is that sin is sin, and Jesus died to cover all of it. But you have to repent of your sins and ACCEPT His forgiveness to receive the benefits of it. That is by far the most important message we can send to the rest of the world. I am not interested in arguing with anyone. The post was simply a share of what I found to be a very powerful message that I could relate to, and you would have had to read the entire article to get it. That is all.

That being said: Jesus was and is the most grace-filled person who ever walked. When you came to Christ with all of your filth, begging His forgiveness, He welcomed you gladly, arms open to receive you and make you His child with every full and complete benefit that entails. He didn’t turn His nose up at your smell, He didn’t withhold the touch of His hand in order to avoid getting dirty, and He didn’t pretend not to see you because He didn’t want to get involved. He didn’t make comments to others about how your problems were all your own fault, and He didn’t with-hold good from you because you were undeserving.

It baffles me that His followers would somehow feel that we have the right to stand aloof and sit as judge and jury over those whose actions we disapprove of or whose struggles we can’t understand because we have never experienced them, when our beautiful, precious, PERFECT Savior got down in the dirt with us and pulled us out of it. He wasn’t afraid to touch the unclean. He abundantly and extravagantly loved the unlovable. The only ones He harshly reproved were those WHO THOUGHT THEIR OWN MORALITY AND SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE MADE THEM MORE WORTHY THAN THEIR FELLOW MAN. No amount of arguing on Facebook or any other forum over the rightness or wrongness of any one particular sin will pull anyone out of the filth of their sins – only Jesus can do that. And He does it with love, not browbeating. Listen to Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Jesus, “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish.” (42:2-3a) Why do we as Christ-followers feel that we have the right to behave with any less gentleness and compassion than Christ Himself? Why, once we have been saved for awhile, do we forget that we were once hopelessly lost? YOU CANNOT EFFECTIVELY SHARE SALVATION WITH ANOTHER UNTIL YOU CAN HUMBLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU YOURSELF WERE ONCE LOST IN SIN AND DESPERATELY IN NEED OF A SAVIOUR.

This does not mean we condone sin, and it does not mean we don’t pray for our nation and the judgment that is sure to come on ANY nation who forsakes God. It does mean, however, that if mercy was louder in the mouth of Jesus than was judgment, so should it be in ours.

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Kelly Balarie and Friends at Purposeful Faith