As Christians we are supposed to be marked by our love. Jesus said that people would know who his disciples by their love one for another. To the unchurched people in our society, that would not be the case. Christians have become known more for what we are against, our politics, and being judgmental.

I believe that every Christian who can hear or will hear my voice wants to be the most effective minister of the gospel that they can be. All of us want people to experience the joy of Jesus that we have come to know. We believe in the reality of eternal life. We know that we are going to live forever either in paradise or in eternal torment.

The problem is that we have allowed other things to become our focus instead of the grace and truth of the gospel. In most cases, those that would not call themselves Christians don’t have a problem with Jesus, they have a problem with Christians. They like the idea of Jesus; they just don’t like us.

Now, all of us have a decision to make. Do I want to be more effective in reaching people with the gospel? We just finished our vision statement series where our stated goal is to make disciples by Loving God, Connecting with Others, Serving His Church, and Reaching Our City, Nation, and World with the gospel. The goal is to do anything short of sin to reach people with the good news of Jesus.

The goal of this series is to identify some of the common areas that we, as Christians, make it harder for people to hear the gospel through us. This is not about watering down the gospel. We have to minister grace AND truth. To have grace without truth is not really the truth. It is the letter of the law without the Spirit. It is harsh, cold and uncaring. Quite frankly, it is modern day Phariseeism.

On the other hand, if we remove truth from grace and you have what Bonhoeffer called cheap grace. It is a poor imitation of grace that leaves people with no reason to commit to the cause of Christ. The call of Jesus is for us to lose our life for the gospel. Why would anyone be willing to do that if they are fine just the way they are?

I hope that over the next three weeks we will all evaluate the things that bring out our passions and ask if they allow others to see Jesus in me. Today we will talk about being Judgmental. Next week we will cover Hypocrisy. Then finally we will talk about how prevalent conspiracy theories have become in religious circles.

To start, let’s begin with the end in mind. The apostle Paul writes in the book of Colossians some words that we would be wise to head and have be the cornerstone of how we deal with those who don’t believe in Jesus.

Colossian 4:5-6

Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

I know this is hard for some of us to believe, but we don’t have to give an opinion on everything. The other thing to know is that the world doesn’t owe Christians anything. Often times we behave as if the world needs to adapt to what we believe, whether they believe it or not. It’s not realistic.

When Paul was writing to the church there was a serious misunderstanding about Christians going on. There were rumors that Christians were cannibals because we talked of eating the body of Christ and drinking HIs blood. There were rumors that Christians were incestuous because they called each other brother and sister. There were other misunderstandings about Christians. Really it is no different than today.

To many in society Christians have become a caricature of what we really are and unfortunately too many of us are not walking in wisdom toward those that “are without”. Our speech isn’t graceful or seasoned with salt. To have our conversation seasoned with salt means, in the classical writing sense, to add wit to the conversation.

To most people who aren’t Christians, we are the people who are against abortion, against gay marriage, don’t believe in science, etc. That is what they know about us and it turns them off. The truth is that we aren’t against abortion, we are for life. We aren’t against gay marriage; we are for marriage as God defines it. We do believe in science, but we also understand the process of science is ongoing.

The reason that this is become the thought is because of the three things we are going to talk about in this series, judgmentalism, hypocrisy, and conspiracy theories. We have engaged in these things too much and Satan has taken advantage to color who we are in a way that simply isn’t true. We are on a rescue mission. God sent his Son that the whole world may be saved. Remember that verse?

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God loved the world. Is anything left out of that statement? Is there any people group, sin group, gender group, or anything else that we could group people into left out? NO! It is not the purpose of God to condemn the world, it is His purpose to bring everlasting life. We are the messengers of that. It is our job to tell people about the saving work of Jesus.

I know what you are thinking, well if we don’t tell them about their sin, they can’t repent and be saved. Can I tell you a secret? The people that God is dealing with, the ones He is calling, they know something is broken in them. They know something is missing. They don’t need that pointed out, they need to be brought to the solution.

Paul writes to the church in Corinth about “them that are without” meaning those who are not of the faith. They don’t believe in Jesus. They don’t know Jesus. We find that in 1 Corinthains chapter 5. We will pick it up in verse 9.

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Leave the judgement of nonbelievers to God. We are to be concerned for the behavior of those who call themselves believers. The thing about this chapter, and we will use the beginning next week, is that the Church in Corinth was celebrating the grace of God in the man who was having a sexual relationship with his step-mother while condemning nonbelievers for their sexual immorality.

If we are busy judging people, we are not loving them. We owe a debt to the world around us. We know the truth of the gospel and we owe it to them to bring it. Why would we want to judge their sin before we tell them about Jesus? How receptive are you to someone you don’t know coming up and telling you how your wrong, but don’t worry they have a solution for you? I am not at all. I’ve already muted you in my mind.

Nothing you have to say to me matters because of how you approached me. If I messed up, I know it. I know it well. Those who are ready to accept Jesus, they are painfully aware of their problems. They are desperate for a solution. All they need is someone who exhibits grace and love enough so they can trust them to open up.

We need to look past the sin, just like Jesus looked past our sin. I hope we remember where Jesus took us from. I hope we are aware of who we are without the grace of God active in our life. To end our time, I want to use a passage that most of us know well. It is the parable of the prodigal son. If you remember he took the things his father had given him, his inheritance, and wasted it. He lived a crazy life. Partys, sex, alcohol, you name it, it took place. He reached rock bottom, he was about to eat with the pigs, that’s where we will pick it up.

Luke 15:16-24

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

God is our father, we have an inheritance with Him. Everyone does. The drug addict, the criminal, everyone has an inheritance with God. In the story, the son who leaves is like all those without Jesus right now. They are taking the resource God granted them to live the way they want to live. They live as if their “Father” is dead.

When the son recognized his problem, when he made his journey towards his father, he wanted the solution and he was willing to accept whatever that meant. Not because he was told how bad he was though. He didn’t need to be told; he knew. The father’s reaction was to run and meet him.

Yes, repentance is a part of the process. You cannot have a genuine relationship with God without it. Too often we are like the brother at home with the father towards those who are coming to repentance. God, you love that person? Don’t you know what they did?

We need to stop looking at the sin and look for the opportunity. We need to stop worrying about what the world is doing and worry about what we as the church is doing. The world is not getting worse because of nonbelievers, its getting worse because believers aren’t living a life that reflects the love of Jesus.

Jesus said if He was lifted up, He would draw all men. When we make known the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, we can have a greater impact on society that any cause we can think of. All of the things that are important to us, the answer lies in the gospel. Whatever it is that you think we need to stand up for as Christians, it will advance farther if we focus on spreading the gospel more that attacking the things we find morally repugnant.

Christians, we are the minority in this country. We shouldn’t be surprised by the things going on around us. How do we change things? It’s not by voting for the “morally” superior party, though I believe we should be involved with the political process. It’s not by fighting our causes in court, though I think there are times when that is appropriate.

The world is changed by one thing, and one thing alone, and that is the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Our passion must be Him, His work. If we focus on that, everything else will find its resolution. The gates of Hell will not prevail against His church. We are assured victory. Let us focus on that. Let us believe in the power of the cross so much that we are willing to shut up about anything else.