John 3:16 is a verse almost all Christians can recite from
memory. “For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life.” Lately, I have begun
to think we need to commit John 3:17 to our memory bank as well. I am concerned that we have lost our perspective on
what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
“For God did not send
his son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the
world should be saved through him.” (John 3:17 ESV)
Did you get that? “God did not send his son to condemn, but to
save.” The word condemn seems to pack a
punch, so I was curious. I went to the dictionary
and this is was I discovered:
Condemn:
To express unfavorable judgement or strong disapproval, or
To
pronounce to be guilty, to sentence to punishment.
I confess that I do that all the
time. I might get on a crowded DART
Train to head into the City of Dallas.
There are two seats available; one next to a young man with multiple tattoos and
body piercings and another by a senior citizen reading a book. I will probably pick the older adults. I must admit a real bias toward people with
excessive (okay, in my opinion) body art, but have I condemned the young man? Have I unfavorably judged him? Taking it a step further; have I pronounced
him guilty and in the process possibly sentenced him to “eternal punishment?” Granted, I do not know the man’s situation,
or have any idea where he stands in his faith walk, but have I in the process
somehow written him off as a lost soul?
In the case of the young man above,
my encounter was brief and probably insignificant, but there are countless
opportunities to relate to people who are spiritually lost or confused. Some of those might be Millennials who work
beside us, or live in our neighborhood. The
opportunity is there to reach out and get to know them. In the process we might become Jesus in their
lives, but if we prejudge them I fear we have condemned them without even
getting to know them.
“Jesus did not come into the world
to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” He calls us daily to do the same.
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