During Passover, God required the Israelites to set themselves apart. When the plague came and took all the first born sons, it did not distinguish between Egyptians and Israelites. Unless the blood of the sacrificial lamb was upon the doorframe, the plague was not stopping. Why did God do this? Why didn’t he automatically spare his people? The plague was brought in order to remind them that they are not any better.
Christians stand on sidewalks holding signs that read “Being gay is a sin.” They preach to their neighbor that they aren’t good enough, that they must do this, this and that before they can be saved. They say you must read your Bible daily and go to church. They say you must believe God is this or that, and that your salvation is conditional upon what you do or who you are. All the while, these people believe themselves to be better off because they know the truth and pray before they bite into their sandwiches.
Is that what Jesus said? I’m dying for you only if you promise to be perfect like me? You’ll only be saved if your doctrine is rock solid? Is that what God designed, a faith in Him that makes the believers self-righteous and judgmental? I’m not sure what red letters Christians have been reading, but I’m reading all of them – even the black ones – and I only see one King on the judgment throne.
I am forever being humbled by the glory of God. He tells me that I am no better than the girl I just harshly judged as she walked by me. My sin runs just as deep, if not deeper. Yet we as Christians sit by and judge. We mock and condemn and throw stones when we have absolutely no right to do so. In fact, we should be the one against the wall or upon that tree, hanging and taking the punishment that was taken from us. Jesus chose to suffer for us, yet we turn from that miraculous sacrifice and use the new life we’ve been given to destroy. We seek out the weak and struggling, and we destroy them with our condemnation. We forget that we are no better.
In Romans 1, Paul tells of the people of Rome who know God and know His truths, but they turn from it. So God gives them over to their sins, and what happens is only more sinful behavior. This passage is one that is often used in the anti-homosexual campaign. But what about the other behaviors that Paul lists? “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful…” (verses 29-30, NIV). Where are the campaigns against liars? Against gossipers? Before attacking others for their sins, should we not remove the plank from our own eyes? We are no better.