As Christians we tend to throw stones at the people we don’t agree with. I’m fairly sure many people would say Pat Robertson is not a Christian, President Obama is a Muslim, and Mark Driscoll hates people too much to be a Christian. Here’s the reality, they’ve all professed to belief in the saving and redeeming work of Jesus. It’s easy for us to judge their actions from afar, but these controversial men are all our brothers.
Remember when Pat Robertson talked about Haiti’s earthquake as punishment from God? Remember when Obama ignored the National Day of Prayer? Remember when Pastor Mark Driscoll said God hates people? People went ballistic on each of them, calling them awful and horrible things.
Part of me wants to join in the fray during those moments, certainly they deserve a little backlash for their actions. But then another part of me realizes, I’m no different.
I’m just as prone to say and do something that does not honor my God. And so are you.
Instead of pushing people off a cliff when they say or do something we deem to be less than what our God would want, we should beg for forgiveness. Their sin is our sin. We’re in this together, as witnesses to the greatest story in the world.
Banishing them to the hell we think they deserve doesn’t help the body of Christ. Coming to the foot of the cross in humility, recognizing our own faults in the midst of the mess of our world does serve our God and our world.
God wants to use those who are willing to humble themselves, the world will recognize us by our love for one another.
We’re in this together. For better or for worse.
