False Innocence!
I use the phrase often to tell someone how good the food is. “Its like sex on a plate”. Most every time the server laughs rather loud and more often then not they say “we will have to remember that one”. This last weekend the server was rather smug about it and tried to act offended. There are many, in the christian community, that have created a cult of innocence around christianity. They act as though they are innocent because they live their life a certain way. That which they think is pleasing to God. If your lifestyle or your behavior is not what they consider proper then you are not bound for heaven. Certainly not welcome in their circle. Apostle Peter thought this way, due to his tradition. God told him three times not to condemn that which God has made clean. Acts 10:15 The same was told to the apostle Paul. The example was about food but went much deeper. God showed Peter that old ceremonial walls and prejudices between different groups of people were removed. Believers should not label any person or group as unclean or unworthy of God’s grace. Jesus did not concern himself with a persons behavior. He touched lepers, he dined with tax collectors and he loved and lived his life with a prostitute. As you believe yourself to be better than others, simply because you live what you consider a moral life, don’t become an accuser. Remember the ones fixing to stone the adulterer thought themselves to be better than her.
Jesus wants us to live not from a place of salvation by moral codes, but from a place of grace… empathy… and love.
I Love You! – Perry