No Condemnation

We all have our moments of hypocrisy—times when we are not behaving as we ought to behave as Christians, times where we really let the Lord down in our witness. The Bible tells us that hypocrites find out the hard way that you can’t pull the wool over God’s eyes. God deals with them very harshly because, in all honesty, He hates the sin of hypocrisy.

When Jesus walked this earth, He saved His most scathing words not for the sinners of the day, but for the self-righteous, religious hypocrites. In fact, with the sinners He could be quite gentle. Remember the woman caught in the act of adultery? He said to her, “Where are those accusers of yours?”

“No one, Lord,” she told Him.

Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (see John 8:10–11).

Does this mean Jesus approved of the way she lived? Far from it—God is very clear about how He wants us to live. Jesus knew the real problem was that her sin needed to be resolved.

It was the same thing with the woman at the well, who was known for her immorality. Yet as Jesus spoke to her that day in Samaria, He did not condemn her for her lifestyle as much as He appealed to her inner spiritual thirst.

The bottom line is that people are empty, and they need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Expend your energy there. Expend your energy in proclaiming the gospel. The heart of the matter is that people are lost. They need Christ. And we need to take that message to them.