Jesus Christ Blog

This incident shows us something very important about our purpose as Christians living in the world. Our job is not to throw judgment upon others, but to identify with them. The Pharisees and religious leaders were trying to separate themselves from this sinful woman they had found in the act of committing adultery. By judging her, they were going to be able to feel good about themselves in comparison. Jesus put a stop to their little charade by putting them in the same boat with the woman they were accusing. They were just as guilty.

It is so tempting to think, especially after being a Christian for a while and spending a lot of time around Christians, that you are better than other people. You start to separate yourself from others, forgetting it was your sin that brought you to Christ in the first place.

The gospel is represented best from people who identify with the sins of others, because they have become so familiar with their own sin. It is noted in the account that as the self-righteous leaders were convicted by the presence of sin in their own lives, “they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest” (John 8:9 NLT). That makes sense. The oldest would be the ones most aware of their own sinfulness. There comes a time in your life when you can’t fool yourself anymore. The young idealists hung on as long as possible, but even they had to finally give in to the truth about their own guilt.

The proliferation of both spoken and unspoken judgment found among Christians has forced many into the world without a Christian friend to walk alongside them. We are constantly trying to separate ourselves from a world that Jesus wants us in. Not only that, He wants us to see our own sin and not make such a big fuss over everyone else’s. Our sin nature is our connection with our neighbor, our salvation is our hope, and the good news of the gospel is our message.

Anyone can spot a mile away the hypocrisy of proclaiming a gospel about the forgiveness of everyone’s sins but their own.