I once went to the Church Under the Bridge in Waco, the church was litterally held under the 4th and 5th street bridge in Waco. This church is truly a church of second chances, a church were people who have been beat down and let down by the world can come to receive food and water not to mention the living water that is offered through the Gospel (John 4:10-14). Most of these people consisted of people who have been affected by the results of a drug addicted lifestyle or the results of being unemployed; then there are people who don’t fit the “model” of what the modern church looks for in a Christian. People who attend this church are offered a hot breakfast, some extra food and water, and information where to get certain types of help and assistance; and if they are able they help set up and break down the service. The people that attend this church are truly the church, there is no building. People are accepted with open arms and without condemnation for the visible sin that some carry with them. No matter what people have been through or are struggling with, they are accepted. The difference in Church Under the Bridge and the more neat and clean looking churches is that it is hard for people to hide their struggles with sin in the life at CUB verses a church that people are neatly dressed and have the appearance of being put together. Also, people at Church Under the Bridge did not point out or protest against others sin, they just accepted people the way they come and work at meeting a need to express the love and compassion of Jesus Christ. I believe if we as people could understand that no sin is greater than the other we would understand the concept of The New Commandment that Jesus told his disciples in John 13:34, Jesus said “I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another.” Jesus said this after a very intimate act of footwashing in John 13:12-20 where he washed the disciples’ feet to display the love and compassion he had for them should be exhibited to one another; verse 15 says “For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you.” Truly loving one another is not passing judgment on others for their obvious sins or passing judgment of the sin that is buried deep within that most of the time is hidden and unknown in some cases; it’s loving that person with the grace that God has shown each and every one of us. Showing love is not picketing the abortion clinic or protesting a porn event, it is not slandering someone for being Islam or for their choice in sexual orientation. It is loving one another because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. How are people that are in sinful situations going to know the love of Christ if we are continually judging and condemning their situations? Throughout the Bible Jesus never condemned or judged an individual; he met a need in their life and developed a relationship that would allow his love to be exhibited. It is not our job to judge people; yes there are Biblical perspectives and commandments that are being broken every day by people of the world and us as Christians as well. In Romans we as Christians are “put in check” with the way that we judge; “…anyone of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge one another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on truth. Do you really think anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same – that you will escape God’s judgment?” – Romans 2:1-3
We all sin and as hard as it is to understand, all sin is equal in the eyes of God. “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23
We participated in footwashing on Palm Sunday this year at Church Under the Bridge, it was an amazing experience for me and my wife. The pastor asked that we choose a group of people that we did not know and did not come with. Our group was a melting pot of 8 diverse people and I say this because like I said this was a church of second chances; so it did not look like a typical study group at a secular church. As we started the footwashing exercise we were ask to wash the foot of the person to the left, I will be honest with you I had never done anything like this before and I was nervous but I didn’t let the fear keep me from experiencing something amazing. As I watched my wife kneel down to wash the feet of a young lady who had a small child and some visible signs that life had been hard on her it occurred to me that this is what Jesus meant by His example. Some of the people in our group where dealing with drugs, sexual sin, depression, they never mentioned this but like I said earlier some people wear their sins on the outside but we were not in a place to judge. We are commanded to love one another and that day was the first time that I really grasped that concept of truly loving a person for being simple a child of God.
We live in a society that judges people continuously, Christian or non-Christian. What I have always had a hard time understanding is why do we think that it is OK to point out someone’s sin out when we hold our own deep within? I had someone comment to me one time after a homeless person asked for .25 cents, “why would you even ask for .25 cents, I would be embarrassed to ask for that!” Do you have any idea where a person has to get in their life to ask for .25 cents? When a woman makes a decision to have an abortion, I would imagine that it is a pretty lonely place. How about man struggling with sexual sin, the one we as men hide; how about a man struggling with the sin of homosexuality, these are very lonely places. Did Jesus call us to condemn these people as we slander and picket them in public? No! He called us to love one another… we have all fallen short with our sin and all sin is equal.
The next time we see people gossiping, slandering or protesting against people that struggle with a major sin in our world; think about the sin that creeps around in our own heart and how much you want to be loved in those times of need…
