Burning Down the Houses of All the Snners

Matthew 7:1-5 (ESV)
¹  “Judge not, that you be not judged. ²  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ³  Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

The secular world needs to look in the mirror before calling Christians hypocrites. I have heard this label place on me and my church for a long time. It fits but the statement always has a sense of superiority. It sounds like, "You guys are hypocrites but we aren't." Nothing can be further from the truth.

For example, the world determines what is wrong or right by way of popular opinion. They use the rule: If enough people say it; it must be true. Maybe that's why science isn't science anymore. You don't have to be right, you just have to have enough people saying it.

If enough people say a person is guilty; then that person is guilty. It doesn't matter what the truth is. It doesn't matter how much people need to examine the evidence. It doesn't matter whether or not the rule of law applies.  Judging others is the rage in the news. People lose their jobs over rumors. They are blackballed over accusations. (And you thought the days of Joseph McCarthy had passed!)

The world seems to saying: "Get on our side on what we think is right and wrong or you will be sorry." Unfortunately, it seems that the numbers are growing. The world is shouting, "Let's send those sinners to hell!"

Does this court of public opinion choose favorites? Of course it does. There are people who are untouchable. There are people who can't be right no matter what they have done. They are to be discredited if they have crossed the court of public opinion. How dare they oppose the majority's decisions?

Recently, I have read of Bill Cosby being condemned for actions in his past. I can't say whether or not  he is guilty. I do wonder why these things are coming out so long after they have happened. It is almost impossible to prove something didn't happen years later. Memories are unreliable. The physical evidence doesn't exist. Jumping on the bandwagon of condemning someone is common. I once knew a pastor that had been accused of so many affairs that he would have had to have been Superman to have kept up with all the women. The accusations remained vague. The dates didn't match up. But none of that mattered. He was guilty by the court of public opinion.

Surely, Bill Cosby should be prosecuted if he did what he has been accused of. In court he would be innocent until proven guilty. Maybe that's why the world wants to keep this in the court of public opinion. Maybe he is guilty of everything. I don't know. It is not my place to judge him.

Recently, someone told me of the sins of a man that I admired. The man has passed away. I would have like to have remained naive. I didn't need o know. I didn't know what to do with this knowledge. I realized that I could do nothing for the dead man. I couldn't confront him of his sins nor expect to see him recover from them. So, I decided to forgive him and remember all the good things that he had done.

The problem is that anytime we start burning down the houses of the sinners we will eventually find ourselves standing with torches lit outside of our own house.