You can go your own way (and God will be okay with it)
We are marching along in our series on all the stuff you shoulda learned in Sunday school. And maybe did, or probably did…but you might’ve forgotten. Or maybe you never went to Sunday school. That’s fine too- we’re either learning new stories or re-learning them but, either way, we’re playing the Bible’s greatest hits.
Normally I give you a link to the story in question…but I assume probably about 8% of you actually click on it. Today’s is important, so I’m going to paste the whole thing in here.
And Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he returned to the temple. All the people gathered around him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The legal experts and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. Placing her in the center of the group, 4 they said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone women like this. What do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, because they wanted a reason to bring an accusation against him. Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger.
7 They continued to question him, so he stood up and replied, “Whoever hasn’t sinned should throw the first stone.” 8 Bending down again, he wrote on the ground. 9 Those who heard him went away, one by one, beginning with the elders. Finally, only Jesus and the woman were left in the middle of the crowd.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Is there no one to condemn you?”
11 She said, “No one, sir.”
Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, don’t sin anymore.”
12 Jesus spoke to the people again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me won’t walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
- John 8:1-12
There’s a lot we could talk about here. But let’s talk about judgment. That’s the hardest thing to deal with, right? So…here’s my question…is Jesus judging this woman or not?
I don’t know if this is true or not, but I suspect this passage could be triggering for some. Yes, Jesus says he does not condemn this one, and goes to great lengths to show that none of the others gathered have a right to condemn her. But he also says go, and from now on, sin no more.
So, there is a sin committed and he’s asking her not to repeat it. Is that condemnation? Is that judgment?
Well- I’m not the expert and am barely an authority (if at all)- but here’s my take. There are a bunch of factors. Let’s go through them.
For starters, the story is not really about the woman, she’s a pawn in someone else’s game. The Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus in a discussion about legal logistics to test his knowledge and discernment and so on. For all his faults (joke), Jesus will not miss the forest for the trees (or maybe in this case, he won’t miss a tree for the forest). He is not going to let a child of God made in God’s image get put to death over a conversation about the newly updated 30 B.C. edition of the Code of Conduct.
Instead, he turns the conversation around. Let’s not make this about the law, and be subservient to the law. Let’s instead make this about the practice of condemning others. Do humans have a right to do this? Well, uh, no, it seems. Okay- this could be (and probably should be) a message all unto itself. But I’ll leave this here for now because there are other things to do. If you want to talk more about this- send me an email. I love a good dialogue.
Alright, alright, so what about the part where Jesus says to, “Go your way and from now on do not sign again.” (NRSV version). Is Jesus demanding spiritual perfection from this point forward?
Okay- no. It’s our turn not to miss the forest for the trees. This isn’t about literally not sinning anymore. This is a manner of speech. In fact, given Jesus’ gentle disposition in this story, we might read this as, Stop hurting yourself. We might read it this way because we know that there are consequences to our actions- and these consequences can be quite painful. My hunch is Jesus doesn’t want her to continue to experience this pain…and he doesn’t want her to experience the pain that comes from being rejected and isolated from the community. Remember- her behavior puts her entire livelihood at risk in this culture.
Side note: Obviously there are others involved as well- perhaps a husband, perhaps her partner’s husband. It’s not really clear. When we cause harm there are consequences for ourselves and others- but Jesus is speaking directly to her in this story so that’s all we have to work with.
For Jesus’ part, he says he doesn’t condemn her. He hasn’t even seen what comes next for her- his decision is based solely on the fact that condemnation is not part of his package of acceptance and inclusion.
I suppose I’ll frame this last observation like a question: Is there a difference between the judgment of one “regular” human of another human and the judgment of God in the flesh? For the sake of argument, let’s say there is. There probably is, right? (It’s not a hill I’ll die on but seems a safe bet).
When I’m practicing therapy, one of the things that sometimes comes up is the difference between a judgment and an assessment or an observation. A judgment implies some criticism or contempt or a negative attitude or negative disposition towards another. An assessment or observation is a pure statement of facts. (It’s the difference between: Scott is a liar and Scott told me something that turned out NOT to be true).
So, I believe that we’re dealing with a kind of translation issue. There is (probably) a very key distinction between condemnation and judgment in Biblical terms that we need to parse out…because I suspect we use the word judgment a bit differently than the Bible does.
Condemnation is probably more similar to how we use the word judgment in our culture (in this context). Condemnation is more like, I look down on you and you deserve some punishment.
The way the Bible uses “judgment” (in stories like this anyway) is probably more like an assessment or an observation. To paraphrase a different way, Jesus might be saying, “This behavior causes you harm and puts you at risk, so take care of yourself.”
I don’t know how you respond to this, but I find myself comforted even as I type it. This behavior causes you harm and puts you at risk, so take care of yourself. If this is what Jesus is saying, and I believe it is, then what does this tell us about God?
Many things, perhaps, but at a minimum God is concerned not so much with what we’ve done but more with living in ways that serve our best long term interests. Ways that allow us to thrive and flourish. Ways that help us become the best possible version of our human selves.
And I’ll add this. Living in ways that are in our long-term best interests does often involve some sacrifice and maybe leaving behind some things that feel good in the moment. But, what I hear over and over from those who have gotten sober from substance use disorder is that these sacrifices are worth it. These sacrifices help you feel more free. They contribute to your self-image, self-worth, self-esteem, and help you feel even more like yourself.
The spiritual path does not feel like you are keeping the real you bottled up so tight that you’re constantly “white-knuckling it” in life just trying to hold the real you somewhere deep down inside. It feels like unleashing the real you with the supreme confidence that you’re going to be better off for having done it- even if there are things about yourself that aren’t quite perfect.
The good news is: you don’t have to be perfect. You can have parts of yourself that are incomplete, that are works in progress. That isn’t our work- it is God’s work. God will perfect us in his way, in his time. (I have no idea what perfection looks like for God so please don’t email me asking about this because I legitimately don’t have an answer. You can still email me about it- you’ll just be disappointed).
So, to summarize the last bit here, pursue freedom. Tread the path that leads you to the best version of you. Let God handle the rest. He’ll be standing at the end of the path with arms stretched wide.
