The Culture of Condemnation

A long time ago, Jesus arrived on the scene into a culture of condemnation.  The religious culture was run-a-muck with self-righteous leaders who had the appearance of piety and holiness and handed down judgments of condemnation to those sinners who committed the most heinous and public sins.  Stone the adulterer.  Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.  Cast out the sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes.  Demonize the unclean.  Jesus turned things upside down.  He said that being angry was the equivalent of murder.  He said that adultery starts in the heart, and that lusting after another is just the same as the act.  Wait...what?  Jesus said that there isn't one of us that has it all figured out, even the ones that look like they do.  He went on to say to the religious leaders some pretty harsh words:  "On the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matthew 23:28).

Social media has again ushered us into a Culture of Condemnation.  Our keyboards have simply made it easier to condemn everyone -- athletes, movie stars, politicians, and acquaintances.  Everyone has an opinion, and we now have a forum to share it -- with little consequence.  In fact, we'll probably get a few affirming 'likes' for our tirade.  The situations in the NFL over the last week or so has brought this to light even more.  Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and Greg Hardy have shed an ugly light on abuse and violence.  Domestic abuse to anyone, especially to a woman or child, is reprehensible.  We can all agree on that.  Moreover, when laws are broken, society needs people to be held accountable.  However, what I have noticed is how these situations have allowed so many of us to get on our high horse and condemn these men.  "We would never do such a thing."  "They are monsters."  "They deserve the worst."  Maybe all those things are true.  I'd never hit a woman or child.  They certainly need to be punished as anyone else would.

But I keep thinking about what Jesus said.  I keep thinking about how I might not have broken laws on the outside, I'm often "full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  I keep thinking...

• What if my worst moment was caught on camera like Ray Rice?
• What if there was a camera in my soul?
• I'd never hurt or hit someone...but does it count if I've thought about it?
• What about all those times I've been so angry at someone I could scream?
• What about the times I did scream?
• Have I ever crossed the line in disciplining my children?
• Do lies that no one knows about count?
• What about lust?

Don't get me wrong.  We need to discipline law-breakers and educate people on how to be good citizens.  But, Jesus seemed much less concerned about 'just being a good citizen' in the neighborhood.  He said you could look like a good citizen and be dead on the inside.  He said we're all broken.  Jesus challenges us deeper.  This is why I'm so slow to condemn.  I've got so much of my own mess to clean up.  I think we know wrong when we see it.  No one that hears of the pending cases in the NFL could dispute that.  But I know there is stuff that I don't know about everyone that gives me pause to condemn.  And it's what I do know about myself that gives me the most pause.

Create in me clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.