Responding to the Modern Christian Dilemma

Sometimes in life, choices are not always easy to make. Sometimes, we are faced with situations that seem impossible to decide one way or another. These choices are called dilemmas. A dilemma is essentially where you have only two choices, option “A” or option “B”.

In a dilemma, it can be very hard to decide the right course of action, because in each choice, there is usually some consequence that makes either choice seem undesirable.

Here is one example of a famous dilemma:

There is a trolley coming down the tracks and ahead, there are five people tied to the tracks and are unable to move. The trolley will continue coming and will kill the five people. There is nothing you can do to rescue the five people EXCEPT that there is a lever. If you pull the lever, the train will be directed to another track, which has ONE person tied to it. You have two choices:

(a) Do nothing and the five people will die (b) Or pull the lever and save the five people, but that one person will die.

Today, our culture has presented Christians with a dilemma that many struggle to overcome.

Bigot or Apostate

Our culture today is progressively moving away from a biblical frame of life. As Christians are attempting to stand against it at the least, or turn it around at the best, we seem to be facing a dilemma in our choices. If we reject the those things that our culture is now calling acceptable and even praiseworthy, then we are automatically labeled as bigots or hateful. We are said to not possess the love that Christ demonstrated towards sinners, as we see in the passage before us today. Now, to some, that might not bother them to much, and it should not, except for the fact that it is very difficult to reach people for Christ and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ when they immediately see it as hate speech.

However, if we welcome the culture and embrace it for the purpose of reaching them for Jesus, then we lose everything that makes us distinct from the world. As Jesus asked, “if salt loses its taste, how can it be made salty again ()?” It can’t. At that time it’s worthless. Basically, if Christians lose that which distinguishes them from the rest of the world, then they are no different from the world. They could no longer call themselves Christians.

Neither choice seems like a good one. Its a choice between giving up reaching the world for Christ or give up being Christians.

Jesus faced a similar dilemma in John 8:

John 8:2–11 HCSB

2 At dawn He went to the temple complex again, and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began to teach them. 3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?” 6 They asked this to trap Him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with His finger. 7 When they persisted in questioning Him, He stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then He stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only He was left, with the woman in the center. 10 When Jesus stood up, He said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”

John 8:2–6 HCSB

2 At dawn He went to the temple complex again, and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began to teach them. 3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?” 6 They asked this to trap Him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse Him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with His finger.

Explain the Dilemma

In bringing the woman to Jesus, the Pharisees and Scribes, who were the religious elite and the experts in the law, presented Jesus with an impossible choice. Either choice would be detrimental to His continued ministry.

If Jesus said she should not be stoned for the sin of adultery, then He was essentially disregarding the Law and Moses who delivered it to them from God. If He did this, they would have grounds to arrest Him and put Him on trial for apostacy. Now, aside from the legal aspects and the possible outcomes, for His ministry, it would have the same effect as a prominent Christian pastor coming out and saying that the Bible is false. He would lose all of His followers.

However, if Jesus carried out the Law of Moses, even though He technically could not, since He did not personally witness the act, it would have two possible outcomes. On the one hand, He would lose His reputation with His followers. Jesus was known by this point as a friend of sinners. He had already been talking about forgiveness of sin and the new birth available through the Holy Spirit. So, to have Him pick up a stone and execute this woman in the Temple court would be a complete disregard of His teachings up to this point. Also, if He did so, He might face capital punishment by the Romans as well, since only Rome was authorized to carry out capital punishment.

The Pharisees thought they had Him between a rock and a hard place. They had finally come up with a plan which would rid them of Jesus forever.

However, for a dilemma to be a true dilemma, you can only have two choices. There cannot be a third choice.

The False Dilemma

The problem with their plan was that they did not realize their error. These experts in God’s Word did not realize they were speaking to the God Himself. Not only did Jesus see the flaw in their plan because of His superior knowledge of the Law, but Jesus had another option available that only belonged to God.

After they asked Him the question, Jesus knelt down and began writing in the sand.

Some have suggested that He was writing out their sins, known well to Him.

Some suggested that He wrote the Ten Commandments, using His finger as an indication that it was the very same finger of God who originally wrote them.

However, traditionally, the Church has held that the first time He wrote out that says, “all who turn away from me will be written in the dirt.”

Jeremiah 17:13 HCSB

13 Lord, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away from Me will be written in the dirt, for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.

Others have suggested that He first wrote out that warns against giving a false report or being a malicious witness or a witness with ulterior motives.

Ex. 23:

Exodus 23:1 HCSB

1 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness.

Exodus 23:7 HCSB

7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty.

Then, after addressing the men, knelt and wrote out which warns about giving a false accusation because God, “will not justify the guilty.”

Exodus 23:7 HCSB

7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty.

Either way, He was essentially pointing out to them that they were not following the law.

The Law required those who were not guilty of the same sin and were witnesses to the sin to carry out the punishment, to throw the first stone.

Deuteronomy 13:9 HCSB

9 Instead, you must kill him. Your hand is to be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.

Dt.

Evidently, they were accusing her of a sin they themselves were guilty of in some fashion. Therefore, they had no grounds to make carry out this judgment, because they themselves were guilty of the same sin. And, based on , He could not be the first one to stone her, since He did not witness the offense, even though He was perfectly sinless.

Leviticus 20:10 HCSB

10 If a man commits adultery with a married woman—if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

So, Jesus answers their dilemma by showing them that there was no dilemma at all. They themselves had no grounds on which to charge the woman, whether because they we guilty of committing adultery themselves, or because in capturing the woman and letting the man go free, they were condoning his adultery while condemning hers (Lev. 20:10). So, one by one, each man left, until it was just Jesus and the woman they had brought.

Jesus’ Third Option

However, even if Jesus had witnessed the act, He still had another option available. Being God, Jesus knew the woman’s guilt, just as He knew the guilt of all the men present. However, Jesus chose not to condemn the woman for her sin. He took a third option, forgiveness.

He chose to love the sinner, but hate the sin.

When the woman tells Jesus that none of the men chose to condemn her, Jesus tells the woman that neither would He. And then, He tells her to go, and sin no more.

Rejecting the Sin but Accepting the Sinner

The problem with the modern dilemma faced by Christians is the assumption by those presenting it that we only have two choices. We can either reject these people or praise them, including all their choices. However, there is a third choice. We can reject the sin while welcoming the sinner.

This is essential for us to grasp if we want to both stay true to the Word of God, following in Christ’s footsteps, and maintain the ability to actually reach people for Christ. To do this, we have to embrace His attitude toward sin and sinners.

1. Recognize that the Sinner is not the Same as the Sin.

The Pharisees only saw the woman’s sin. They did not see her as a person in the same boat as they.

She was merely a political ploy to them. They did not see her as a person in need of God’s love and mercy, in part because they knew nothing of God’s mercy and did not recognize their own sin. Maybe they ignored the man because he was one of them and had dirt on them, or maybe they figured that the culprit being a woman would have a greater impact. However, it is clear that they only saw the sin, not the sinner.

As Christians, we need to begin to look beyond the sin to the sinner who is committing it.

We need to remember that even though the sin is detestable in God’s sight, every sinner is a man or woman created in God’s image whom Jesus came and died for so they might be reconciled to God.

Jesus came to seek the lost, and He left us with the responsibility of doing the very same thing.

Each sinner isn’t a problem to get rid of, they are a person in need of saving.

2. Remember that we are all Guilty of One Sin or Another.

Favorite Sins - Everyone has them

People tend to focus on certain sins when evaluating other people.

People tend to look past sins they routinely commit.

We can’t pick and chose when it comes to sin. God detests them all.

Knowledge of your own sin and the forgiveness you have in Christ should generate compassion for sinners.

It’s easy to become hard hearted toward other people’s sins, especially when:

We do not share those same sins

Their sins directly affect us

Recognizing God’s forgiveness of our sin should soften our hearts toward others.

3. We are not the One to Judge

Among the group there that day, Jesus was the only one who had the authority to condemn anyone for their sin.

Whether they were guilty of the very same sin, or they were guilty of ignoring another’s sin to serve their own purposes, their hands were not clean.

Not a single one of us has the authority, nor the right to condemn another person for their sins.

We are just as guilty as anyone else.

Revelation tells us that only Jesus is worthy to be the one to pour out God’s judgment on a sinful world, and God Himself will be the one to evaluate each person’s life on the day of judgment.

Jesus taught in the Sermon on the mound that however we judge another person, that is the standard that we will be judged by.

This does not mean letting sin go unchecked or not teaching the right way to live. The NT repeatedly tells us to evaluate one another, as well as ourselves for the presence of sin. However, it does mean that we are to let the pronouncement of another’s sentence to the Lord. We are not His policemen or His judges. We are His ambassadors, carrying His good news to those who need it.

4. This is not the Time of Judgment

Ecclesiastes reminds us that:

(HCSB)

Ecclesiastes 3:1–4 HCSB

1 There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; 3 a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;

1 There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; 3 a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;

When Jesus addresses the woman, He tells her that He does not condemn her, and to go and sin no more.

It is easy to feel like we are doing God’s work when we condemn sinners for their sin, but the reality is that we are doing our work and Satan’s work. Satan does not want people to know about God’s forgiveness or to turn away from sin. He wants as many people as possible to go down with Him.

When we have a gospel conversation with someone, it’s important that we draw a distinction between the sinner and the sin, because there is a difference between how they will be treated on Judgment Day.

Sin will always be sin. God does not change and His standard does not change. So, God will judge all sin one day.

However, sinners can change. Jesus came and died on the cross so that anyone who believes in Him will be spared form the punishment of their sin. If you accept Christ as your savior, your sin is washed away by His blood, and what was previously black as pitch is now white as the fresh driven snow. You are free from any punishment you might have received.

However, God still judges your sin. The difference is, you are not the one paying the price. Jesus did. And, one day, God’s wrath over sin will be poured out on this world and all who have refused the payment Jesus offers, just as it was poured out on Jesus at Calvary.

There will be a time for judgment; however, now is not that time. This is the time for rescuing.

Conclusion

Welcoming sinners into our churches and into our homes is not the same as welcoming their sin. We can pour out Christ’s love on the sinner and still condemn the sin. We do not have to compromise the Word of God to minister to sinners in need of His forgiveness.

So, as Christians, we can address the sin of this world and minister to lost of this world by separating the sin from the sinner by sharing the truth about sin.

Sin is offensive to God, because it goes against His perfect moral character. It goes against His will for our life, and it carries a debt that no man can ever pay, leaving us guilty before God. One day each and everyone who has ever lived will stand before Him and receive our just reward for our sin, death.

However, its not because God hates sinners or that He hates certain types of sinners. It’s because God hates sin in all its forms, and His perfect nature requires that He judge sin.

However, we must also share the truth about ourselves.

You are not going to get very far sharing the Gospel to another person if you come across as holier than thou. In all reality, you are, because you have been washed with the blood of Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But, you didn’t start off there. If you want to truly love sinners while despising the sin, open up to them. Listen to them, and share with them who you were before you met Christ.

Many people believe Christians are these hypocritical people who believe they do not do anything wrong, even though many times we make as many mistakes and commit as many sins as those who do not know Christ. The reality is that we are sinners who came to terms with out sin and recieved the help that we needed. Share that with them. Let them know who you were before Christ, who you are now, and who you hope to be one day.

And, we must also share the truth about Jesus.

We need to let people know that Jesus loves them, even though they are sinners. We need to let them know that Jesus loves them so much that He was willing to die in their place so that they would not have to pay for their own sin.

His love and forgiveness is available to all, and the time of judgment is delayed for that very reason, to give each and every man and woman the opportunity to seek His forgiveness and trust in Him as their Lord and Savior.

But also, that He does not want us to remain sinners. He told the woman, “Go and sin no more.”

Jesus recognized her sin, offered her His grace and mercy, but told her the natural response of someone who has been forgiven a great debt of sin…sin no more.