I read these words on a blog post:
"Instead of judging, the saints treated sinners like wounded members of their own body. They were grieved, not scandalized. They corrected with patience, not contempt. They understood that love covers a multitude of sins and that to despise one’s neighbor is to cut oneself off from the Body of Christ. ... And now, a little prayer from Ephrem the Syrian for you and me to make our own: 'If I have made fun of my brother’s sins when my own faults are countless … have mercy, my Lord and Creator, on me Thy wretched and unworthy servant.' Amen" (Matt Fradd, Pints with Aquinas)
Naturally, my mind jumped immediately to the scandal all over the news about the couple that were outed on the kiss cam for their adulterous relationship at the Coldplay concert recently.
Lots of people are mocking them now. They are the butt of jokes everywhere. I think the above quote is a good reminder for us about the sinfulness of our response to such a public display of "our brother's sins."
Have we forgotten that each of these people--and especially their families and friends--are paying a very public price for the display of their sin?
Is that something we should judge, just because our own sins have not been set on public display?
Leave them alone and let them figure out where to go from here, as they try to deal with the pain they have caused others in their life and try to figure out life moving forward.
And follow Jesus' admonition:
"Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7
Don't be a stone thrower; learn how to love the wounded.
Janet Cassidy
Email me at: jmctm2@gmail.com
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