One of the things I find very fair about God is that He judges based on what you know.
Knowing and being aware of something works in different ways for different people. A group of people can hear something announced, but not everyone is paying attention and so when something happens it shows which were paying attention and which were not. The fact that the individual was there does not mean they were made aware of what was going on. Yet quite a few people will be held liable for what they knew.
Why that’s cool with me is that I remember coming across people who were at varying stages of their Christian journey. Some were fresh to the Bible and to waht it was to follow Jesus, others had been around church circles long enough to know at least basic principles to wotk from. The idea then, as I grew up, was not to look to judge people myself, but look to see what they knew and what they acknolwedged. From that point it would be fair to share observations without condemning anyone.
Some people have been in church circles for years and still don’t understand how important the Holy Spirit is in their every day lives. They don’t understand because outside of the church gathering in that one point of the week they don’t really interact and engage with others who help them see the role the Spirit plays in their relationships, their approach to work, the way they manage their finances, what they spend their time doing. From that point on it’s really up to the individual what they do with what they’ve engaged with. They can only be judged on what they know.
That’s only fair.
(Photo by Bahram Bayat on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 