Romans 2:1-4
What a great way to start our Monday morning, eh? This is one of those passages that simply hits me right between the eyes. In my shadow (you know that dark place that everyone has), I am critical, cynical and judgmental. I work on it, but too often it creeps up and into my thoughts. My wife knows this shadow-self all too well. This sort of judgment is really a judgment of myself. I very rarely stop and think that my criticism of others may simply be a way of escaping detection of something in my own life. Who really wants to stop and listen to that? Don't we know that God sees all and isn't fooled by our slight-of-hand tactics? Sure we do. Then why do we continue to fall into this trap of self-deception?
I may be tempted to see my error and assume that God's grace will trump that no matter what, which I do, and believe that he will just let it slide. Paul indicates this is not at all the case, though. God's kindness does not just let us do whatever we want to do, no matter how damaging to others or to ourselves. The kindness of God is what leads us to repentance. His kindness is what "takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life change (v. 4)." So, I cannot simply look past my criticism and take it lightly. Father wants me to change. He wants me to not condemn. He wants my kindness to lead somewhere because His kindness does.
We would be a better community of Christ-followers if we began to live out the implications of this passage. We would be a better community if we stopped our criticism and offered kindness instead. Whether it's the neighbor who plays his music too loud too late, or the co-worker who gossips all the time, God has called us to look first at our own lives before worrying about theirs. When I am able to do this, I find that I don't have time to worry about theirs.
Here is a little tune that might help you keep this in mind today...there are better recordings, but the lyrics on this one are clear...
Can you offer a little help with "you cannot escape God's judgement".. how does this fit in with repentance and yet not fully conquering the key problem areas of your walk with the Lord? Or is this more based in the principle of "judge not, lest you be jusged"?
ReplyDeleteIn this picture that Paul is painting for the Romans, he is not showing us a God who chases after us to punish us, thus we have no way of escape. Paul is leveling the playing field for the self-righteous Pharisees and the lost Gentiles. In this, Paul is saying that none of us escapes God's judgment, we are all in the same boat. It's my belief that in this context, it falls more closely to your "judge not, lets you be judged."
ReplyDeleteBecoming who God wants us to be, is precisely that...becoming. While our ultimate salvation is secure because of Christ's action at the cross, our ongoing transformation continues as a process. We grow and we fail, and in the failing, hopefully we are growing.
Paul starts Romans with the hardest part of Christianity: God's righteousness and judgment (my opiniion, of course). But as he goes, he paints a picture of God's response in mercy and forgiveness. It's easier to see Paul's intent in these early verses in the context of the whole book, but we haven't gotten that far yet. Just hold onto that tension, and see how God's character is revealed as we go along.
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