Romans 14:10-12
So where does that leave you when
you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you
condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or
worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in
the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways
aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for
yourself in Scripture:
“As I live and breathe,” God says,
“every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
that I and only I am God.”
So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
As I read this scripture
passage, I thought about my Facebook friends. I pictured many of them,
and I made a mental list of things I knew about challenges and “issues”
that each one is facing or has had to face. This one’s son is being
deployed to the Middle East…and that one’s son is undergoing tests at
Mayo Clinic. One has spent an entire year molding and shaping her body
into an amazing work of muscular art through careful diet and weight
training…while another who is working with a personal trainer recently
posted a picture of a pair of jeans with the caption, “Well, HELLO, size
12!”
Some are dealing with the aftermath of breakups, while
others are planning weddings or anticipating the birth of a new baby.
Some are experiencing discrimination because of their sexual
orientation, religious beliefs, or political views…while others are the
ones who are discriminating and criticizing. Some are gaga for their
dogs, and others are unapologetically in the cat camp. Some are all
about the lives and activities of their kids…while others are totally
into the enjoyment of retirement living.
I imagined each one of
us standing side-by-side in something non-descript - surgical scrubs,
perhaps – barefoot and stripped of caps, jewelry, makeup, and other
“adornments”. You can’t always see a person’s characteristics and
preferences with the naked eye. You can’t always know what is going on
behind the scenes in their lives. You also cannot see their heart…or
their heartaches. You can’t know for certain what kind of relationship
they have with God…or what is truly in their hearts. But God knows ALL
of this. And as this passage tells, at the end of the day when we kneel
before Him, He will decide who has served Him well and “lived right”...not you and I.
We
have to get this right. We have to quit criticizing…to “live and let
live”…and to get on with focusing on getting our OWN lives in order. We
only have one responsibility…and that is to mind our own business and
live in such a way that God is honored as we serve Him. In the current
vernacular, we need to learn to “stay in our lane.” For many of us,
this is really hard. We want to make suggestions…to impose OUR thoughts
and feelings onto others…to interject ourselves into their lives. If
only they would do this or say that or think another way – in other
words, be more like us! – their lives would be so much better!
Do
you see how skewed this is? Do you understand how this displeases
God…how we place ourselves in an unmerited position of authority? Are
you ready to humble yourself and find your true place as Christ’s
disciple? Will this be the day that you start to look at other people
as God sees them…and quit criticizing and looking at them with
condescension? Don’t you think it should be?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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