".....and they said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. " (John 8:4)
It is a familiar story to anyone who has been churched. "The woman caught in adultery"
I have never been an adulteress. But I sure know what it is like to be caught in sin.
The most important thing is my response to having been caught. Do I try to cover it up? Deny it? Make excuses for it, in attempt to justify it?
Worse...do I just accept the sin, callousing my heart so that I'm not even bothered about my wrong behavior?
We do that you know. Just say 'oh well...', and keep right on with the wrong choices and wrong actions. Pretty soon, we don't have a second thought about our wrong behavior. (...it can even get to feeling right somehow....) Maybe I'm the only one with that tendancy. But I doubt it.
I've read this story many times. One character I don't want to find myself playing is that of the ones who drug this naked, sinful woman to Jesus. Out into the street, out into public.
It is easy for me to identify sin in other people. That in itself is not wrong. Just as it was not wrong for these religious leaders to call this woman to account for her sin, it is not wrong for me to call others to account for their sin.
Their motive had nothing to do with the woman's spiritual welfare. It had to do with promoting their own agenda.
God help me to never have the wrong motive for bringing sinful behavior to the Light of Jesus Christ.
