There is most always a ‘rest of the story’. I am guilty of leaving out details to suit my spin on the story. It’s easy to do. It’s not a new thing, and I’m not the only one. You might be guilty too.
I’ve been convicted in my spirit every time I read the story of the woman who was caught in her sin. She wasn’t alone in her sin. It takes two.
“The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" (John 8: 3-5 The Message)
It seems to me the religious police didn’t tell the rest of the story. Imagining what the rest of the story might be doesn’t change the woman’s guilt. She had sinned. Yet I always find myself imagining what the rest of the story was. Certainly there was a man involved. Duh. What about his sin?
“Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." (John 8: 6-7 The Message)
Again, my imagination explores the possibilities. Had the men holding the stones visited this woman? What sort of men were they, the kind to undress women with their eyes? Did they make crude or vulgar remarks to women? After all, “… don't think you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices--they also corrupt.” (Mat. 5:28 The Message)
They chose to drag this woman into the street and announce her sin. Most likely she was naked, or perhaps clinging to the bed sheet from which she had been caught in sin. Even if they were not guilty of her same sin, they were not without sin. Neither am I. And neither are you.
It was not necessary to humiliate her. It was not necessary to announce it publicly. Doing so was for the satisfaction of these self-pious men. Maybe it made them feel superior. Maybe it made them look like they were doing their job really well.
There may be a time when it is necessary and even beneficial to reveal a person’s sin. But is it ever good to bring shame and embarrassment on purpose? Surely there is always a better way.
Lord, help me to be part of restoration and not destruction. I purpose to let you bring condemnation, never dragging someone’s fault into the public eye. That is my desire, but I fail miserably. I need Your help. Forgive my failure. Remind me before my next such sin.
