Put Away the Finger

Dear Readers,
I have been pondering today’s culture and the challenges that Christians face as they attempt to reach a dying world for Jesus. I have been studying the “woman at the well” (John 4) and the culture that existed then and today. Why is today’s culture so resistant to Christ? As we begin to enter the Christmas season, I am reminded that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

The Bible tells us that God so love the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). It’s our job to reach them. It’s our calling and purpose. No one is excused from this assignment.

Church attendance in American is statistically declining. We are losing the churched, and we are not reaching enough unchurched and backslidden people for Christ in the proportions we had hoped for. People are not getting saved in churches in the numbers we had hoped for either. Jesus tells the disciples in John 4 to look with their eyes that the fields are ready to harvest. What do today’s disciples see with their eyes? And what has this off-kiltered focus done to the church’s reputation? Or, have we missed the boat and forgotten that we have to go outside the house of God to reach people? Could it be a mixture of both?

This is purely my observation, but some of the church has tainted or stained the church’s reputation using judgmental behavior and conversation expecting the “unchurched” to be a people who do not swear, wear inappropriate clothing, or smoke and or drink. This sneering eye in churches has also caused many to run from churches. We expect them to be cleaned up before they encounter Christ. You may argue with me about this, but follow this line of reasoning.

When we see someone swearing at their kids in the store, we roll ours and judge them. We snicker and sneer. We have no right to judge them. They do not share our revelation of having a pure stream. What we do when we behave this way is make them run farther from Christ. Don’t tell me they don’t know that we are a Christian. They can spot us a mile away. These are the people who point their fingers. These are the ones I used to run from before I came to know the Lord. People who think this is normal will NOT stop, sneer, and snicker; they walk by as if things are normal. Folks, this is a normal day-to-day occurrence. It is normal for them! They have not had the revelation that we have had. Does this make them garbage and give us the idea that they deserve our snicker, or do we think they do no better and continue to be real and hope for an opening to talk to them?

What people really want are people who are willing to love them and accept them for who they are right where they are. Christ says to come as you are. Some Christians need to be open to listen to people and not correct them for their language. If you are going to begin to minister someone who has a potty mouth, then don’t bring your kids with you. Don’t get me wrong, if you are in the store and there is a fair amount of common swearing going on between a family, you can refrain from sneering and move your family out of the isle. I would use this moment as a teachable moment and explain later in the car what you encountered. Explain that they do not know any better and pray for them. Tell them Jesus loves them and they should too. While we know how we should behave, we cannot judge them, just love them.

If you are without your children, pray that you can be brave enough to smile and say hello, how are you? Open the door in love. You never know how many people have just lost their job, have been diagnosed with cancer, are in an abusive relationship, and or are suffering from depression. If you can look beyond the language and stop judging, you may be able to reach another soul for Christ. Remember where you came from. No wonder Jesus tells us to remove the pointing of our fingers from our midst.

The “well” in John 4 represents almost any other place outside of the church and its parking lot. It’s the field of harvest, which is ripe and ready for harvesting. The church and the unchurched meet on common ground at the well and discuss natural things. If the heart is open and the veil is removed, they are able to reach them for Christ. The problem is that many people will not engage in fellowship at the well because of what they have experienced from other Christians. If we want to make a difference we need to less judging and more loving.
Food for thought!