What's with Those Angry, Judgmental Christians?

This is a topic I’ve been wanting to cover for a long time because it’s one that nearly everyone can relate to, that self-righteous, angry Christian. We all have encountered these people and I guess the saying goes if you haven’t met one yet that probably means it’s you…. Just kidding…. a little. In all seriousness though one of the biggest problems non-Christians have with Christians is that it seems that Christians are always quick to point out everyone else’s mistakes but they never tell you their own. They are quick to be angry when a non-Christian disagrees with something they have to say and then they get into attack mode. They are often cliquey, only hang out with other “desirable Christians”. These Christians always have something to say, even if no one wants to hear it and they never back down.  I bet as you read this you can even picture someone’s face in your mind.

While I think most of these Christians mean well - although there are truly hateful “Christians” out there that are completely ignoring how Christ calls us to live - as a Christian myself, I find that most of them seem terribly confused - I know, shocking, because they seem pretty certain about what they have to say! The truth is they are confused  or completely ignoring what Christ really came here to do. In Luke 19:10 it states that the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. So from the get go, before Jesus even stepped a foot onto this Earth it was prophesied that Jesus was coming to hang out with the sinners. So if you’re a Christian who isn’t seeking out hurting and broken people to show them compassion and love then you’re already 

missing the mark!

Now watch this, watch how Jesus interacts with the people society sees as the biggest sinners. In John 8:1-11 we see a perfect example of how Christians are SUPPOSED to act. To summarize the story, Jesus is sitting with a group of listeners at the mount of olives . He is teaching them when a group of Pharisees leads a woman who was caught in adultery to the front of the group. They say to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. Now what do you say?” In verse 6 it says they were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him – in Moses’ time the law was that both the women AND the man that were caught in the act of adultery would be stoned so if Jesus said yes he would be going against the law however if Jesus said no he would be accused of going against the judicial laws which state a woman should be stoned if she commits adultery. In verse 6b it states Jesus just bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger – pretty much ignoring them. They kept on questioning him so he straightened up and said this, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” After Jesus said this the group started to leave, first the elders and then the youth until it was only Jesus and this women. He asks her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replies, “No sir.” So in a loving heart that is so characteristic of Jesus, he says to her, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Throughout history God responds to humanity in 2 parts that are perfectly balanced – Wrath and Grace. Now when most people think of wrath they think of someone who is angry but God’s wrath is very different because it’s not WHO he is, it’s a response. Wrath is God’s consistent response of opposition to what is destroying us (sin). God’s wrath isn’t on us but the sin that destroys who God created us to be. So God did something that only an unconditionally loving father can do, he trumps our sin with unconditional grace which we see in this story and in Jesus’ death and resurrection on the cross.

Unfortunately, many Christians to this day still interact with non-Christians and even other Christians in the very same way the Pharisees did with the woman in this story. They are often missing the part of God’s plan that is grace. Many Christians will say, “So what are Christians just supposed to ignore sin?” I would ask, did Jesus excuse the sin in this woman’s life? No. He states in verse 11, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” But neither does he condemn her.

As humans it is impossible for us to balance wrath against sin and grace for the sinner as perfectly as Christ did – we are sinful and he is not. Therefore I think we need to focus on what Christ called us to do as Christians, to love our neighbor as ourselves. How many times does Jesus rebuke the people who were the worst sinners? I bet it would be very hard to find a scripture that tells of him doing that. Now how many more times does Jesus rebuke the judgmental and angry Pharisees? Time and time again! So if this is the way Jesus is interacting with sinners, serving them, loving them, listening to them, and showing grace to them, shouldn’t Christians be interacting with today’s lost and broken in the same way?

Christians, we need to remember that if someone is living their life in a way that is not how God calls his children to live, but they are not Christian, nothing you can say is going to convince them to live the way GOD says we are called to live. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job is to convict. If the Holy Spirit hasn’t already opened a person’s eyes to see that we are all sinners in need of Christ then that person has no reason to change something they do or believe just because we tell them to based on OUR authority which is God.

We have to stop preaching our opinion on moral issues to people don’t believe they need God or don’t want a relationship with God. Telling them how they are living is a sin is NOT going to show them what our loving Father is all about nor will it aid them in wanting a relationship with God. It will in fact do quite the opposite. The goal first and foremost is to show non-Christians love so that they can see what a relationship with God is, not to correct a behavior they have. Did Jesus call out a sinner for their crime? Or did he love, serve, and build a relationship with the sinner and then BECAUSE Christ did that, the sinner came to know and love Christ so THEY changed their ways on their own to show love back to Christ? What method works better? What method makes a positive impact and encourages a relationship with God? Our lives should always reflect the grace that God has given each one of us - not anger, not judgment – but unconditional grace as God has shown each one of us.