John 8:2-11 (New International Version)
2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
I've been thinking about this passage a lot over the last few days, and how it relates to my ministry through worship music. This has been preached on so many times that I am not going to attempt to do so other than to tell how I feel about it, you can make the call how you think it relates to worship music ministry. The fact is Jesus doesn't condemn her BUT also tells her to stop her sinful actions. It is the ultimate loving way to speak to a new Christian on how a Christian should live. He is telling her that she is not condemned by her actions anymore but He also does not approve of them. Does that make since? I love this passage and will take it to heart when dealing with a new Christian, a non-Christian, or matter-of-fact a "mature" Christian. I will not condemn them for their actions, but they should expect that they will be asked to step out of whatever sin they are in. It's not legalism or loftiness, it's truth. OK, enough about that.
Blessings,
Scott
