Today’s post is from Tyler Hartford, lead pastor at Pleasant View Mennonite Church, Goshen, IN
Jesus is simply the most hospitable, approachable person I have ever met. I don’t know of a single person he ever declined meeting, including the Accuser himself. Yet, he didn't just accept people where they were at, he also called them to new ways of being.
A woman who was looking for love in all the wrong places was condemned by religious leaders who knew the letter but not the spirit of the law. Christ stepped into the fray and dispersed the mob with a few inspired lines in the sand. He then turned to the outcast woman, and offered her a new way of living.
Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:10-12)
I believe what Jesus demonstrates here is one of the hardest acts of humanity: the ability to speak and act out of love while having expectations for change and growth. This is the ability to show unconditional love without showing unconditional approval.
Jesus models for us how to draw near to someone with genuine love, and say, “Don’t act in this destructive way, but rather act in this life-giving, God-honoring way.” He promises us that the Holy Spirit has been sent, the Counselor is with us, teaching us all things and reminding us of everything he has said to us (John 14:26). May God grant us each the strength to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, and the discernment to know how to share with Holy Spirit power.
-Tyler Hartford
Jesus is simply the most hospitable, approachable person I have ever met. I don’t know of a single person he ever declined meeting, including the Accuser himself. Yet, he didn't just accept people where they were at, he also called them to new ways of being.
A woman who was looking for love in all the wrong places was condemned by religious leaders who knew the letter but not the spirit of the law. Christ stepped into the fray and dispersed the mob with a few inspired lines in the sand. He then turned to the outcast woman, and offered her a new way of living.
Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:10-12)
I believe what Jesus demonstrates here is one of the hardest acts of humanity: the ability to speak and act out of love while having expectations for change and growth. This is the ability to show unconditional love without showing unconditional approval.
Jesus models for us how to draw near to someone with genuine love, and say, “Don’t act in this destructive way, but rather act in this life-giving, God-honoring way.” He promises us that the Holy Spirit has been sent, the Counselor is with us, teaching us all things and reminding us of everything he has said to us (John 14:26). May God grant us each the strength to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, and the discernment to know how to share with Holy Spirit power.
-Tyler Hartford
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