In The Way

Today, I had a long 8 or so hour drive back to Indiana. Of course, I scanned the radio mot of the time. On a side note, I think that even if I did find a station that was good, I still pushed the button to scan because that was more entertaining after a while. Anyways, that was a tangent. One of the songs that I continuously heard was Jesus, Friend of Sinners by Casting Crowns. When I first heard this song, I was somewhat annoyed because I figured that it would be just another, over-played song. Each time I heard it, I heard the same part over and over again. The gist of the line was that we allow people to see what we are against rather than what we are for. We allow our own judgments and criticisms get into the way of who God is and what being a child of God really means. As I was driving, I began to think of the many times that I have allowed these things to interfere with my relationships. I have many people in my life who are not followers of Christ, and I know that there are many times where I am judgmental and somewhat critical of them because they are "sinning". First thought that came to my mind was that I cannot expect them to follow the same "laws" that I do when they do not claim to be children of God. The second thought that came to my mind was that they are not seeing Christ through me. If I am a representative of who Christ is, then I am doing a miserable job. Rather than showing the graceful, merciful, and loving God, they are seeing a judgmental God who has a ton of rules. Rather than being judgmental and critical of others, I can show the people in my life who Christ really is.