WHAT IF I STUMBLE?!

Dianne Olsen, SW Washington

 

 

My daughter comes to me several months ago and asks me, “Mom, do I have to love everyone?”

 

 Being the spiritual mother that I am, I spouted off several scriptures about love, and then firmly state, “If the Bible says it, you have to do it!”

 

 So she looks me square in the eye and says, “Then I want the erasable Bible!”

 

 Now, wouldn’t that be easy Christian living? To just erase whatever we don’t like, or find difficult to live by. I don’t love my neighbor, he’s rude, and his dog poops in my yard. Love my enemies, I don’t think so! Loving people where they’re at, even if it’s in the gutter, not so much!

 

 The problem with erasing scripture would be, by the time I’m done erasing, I would be left with 5 pages, okay I’m stretching it, make it 2.

 

So that means you all have to love me, of course the flip side to that is I have to love you too, unless…erase…erase…erase.

 

The Bible is called the living word, because you can read a verse and get one thing, I can get something completely different out of the same verse, without changing the meaning, cool huh?

 

But it is amazing to me that believers and unbelievers alike will read about sin, and put a hierarchy on sin. Murder, really bad; gossip, strife, judgment, just try not to do that.

 

Romans 1: 26-32 gives us a laundry list of sins, starting with homosexuality, greed, envy, murder-but then continues with strife, deceit, gossips and slanderers. Then goes on to say that judging others for their sin is wrong, because honey, you’ve got your own stuff!

 

And you notice they are all listed together, not separated into little categories? We get that mind set from our criminal justice system; someone would arrest me for murdering one of you, but not for judging or gossiping about you.

 

With God, sin, is sin, is sin, period! All crime is sin, but not all sin is a crime. But if God were in charge of our criminal justice system, this is what it would be like.

 

 I find out that a member of my church, cheated on his wife. And being the good Christian that I am, I immediately get on the cell phone, and begin to tell everyone I know about Joe’s sin and how awful of him to commit adultery. Then, “Oh man, I’m getting pulled over, I’ll have to call you back.”

 

“Hello Officer, was I speeding?”

 

“No ma’am, can you step out of the car and put your hands behind your back please?”

 

“But what did I do?”

 

“You are under arrest for one count of gossip in the first degree, and one count of judging your brother who fell into sin.”

 

So after a very thorough cavity search by a cop named Bubba, I get thrown into a cell, where a big crazy eyed man with scary tattoos comes to me and asks me what I’m in for.

 

 “Gossip and judging.”

 

 “Oh, that is bad, is it your first offense?” “Nope, third, so 3 strikes and I’m out, I will be in for life.”          

 

 The good news is that with God, there are no 3 strikes your out rule; with repentance, He will throw it into the sea of forgetfulness!

 

 According to the Bible, we are supposed to do that with each other; when a fellow believer falls, and we will, we’re supposed to love them no less, and not judge them. I actually applied for the job of judge and was just shocked to discover that position was already filled!

 

 We are supposed to love each other with an unshakable love; the Bible says they will know us by our love for one another. When a fellow believer is struggling with sin, that is when they need us the most. I am not talking about sweeping sin under the carpet, but simply loving one another and being there to pray and support each other, and cultivating an environment where we can be transparent with each other.

 

We can be like the church Paul writes about in Thessalonians, an example of Christ’s love to other churches in 2007!

 

DC Talk has a song called, “What If I Stumble?” The chorus goes like this, “What if I stumble, what if I fall, what if I lose my step and I make fools of us all? Will the love continue, when my walk becomes a crawl? What if I stumble, and what if I fall?”

 

When my walk becomes a crawl, I will need you to help me move toward the mark, I just pray that I will not only recognize it, but also help those around me when they fall.

 

Churches have become something God never intended for them to be. He never wanted a bunch of “self-righteous” Christians running around the building.  He commands for us to walk in love, His love, not our twisted version of it, and it is NOT optional!          Let’s join together and try to love others so much, that people are breaking down the church doors to get in, just to experience that kind of love. And trust me, they will!

 

Wishing each of you a 2007 filled with more love than you can hold!

 

Happy New Year,

Dianne