I feel no compelling, nor do I have any interest in taking on the role of ‘social commentator’ and wading into the debates of public opinion these days on many of the current events that come down the pipe and catches the public’s fancy.

I do believe, however that I have been called for this season in my life to challenge us as ‘believers’ who profess to follow Jesus…to heed the words of Paul and to ‘examine our hearts and test them…to see if Christ Jesus in in us’ (2 Cor. 13:5). I firmly believe there is an awful lot of ‘small print’ that we have overlooked in our Bibles, and that we would do well to go back and do some more study…before it’s too late. All I can do is point out these things I have discovered and simply share them with any and all who may stumble across this page. What you do with them is between you and God. (Acts 17:11)

But when it comes to ‘current events’, especially the ones that hit a nerve within us and stir up a lot of passionate feelings and opinions…they do have a way of exposing what is in our hearts, because ‘from the abundance of our hearts the mouth speaks’. (Matt. 15:18). The manner in which we respond (or react) to such news events can be a ‘test’, in a way…that reveal what is in us. And it should come as no surprise to any of us that when it comes to certain news events, like the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the mother who was recently tried for killing her three young children before attempting to take her own life…that there is no shortage of opinions being shared these days in the online forums of public discussion.

Perhaps you have come across a recent podcast message being shared by a popular preacher out of Texas who’s popularity is rising across the country, and he too weighed in on this tragic story. Many people have been sharing his thoughts on the matter and are aligning themselves with his ‘biblical’ opinion as well. Perhaps you saw/heard where he quoted a passage from Leviticus 20:1-5 that called for the stoning (execution) of ‘whoever’ is guilty of having their children put to death (by means of handing them over to the descendants of Molech who were known to offer up child sacrifices to their gods).

This preacher, citing this passage, also wanted it known that any people who turned a blind eye to such an atrocity would be judged as well, also quoting Deut. 19:13 that no one should ‘pity’ such a person guilty of such crimes. I also read where he was puzzled as to why so many Christians seemed to be struggling with this particular murder case, and he even suggested that if you had a girlfriend who sympathized with Ms. Clancy …to drop them immediately and ‘run the other way’ as fast as you can.

I have questions.

Why is it we can be so easily repulsed by the sins of some people, but are quick to dismiss or overlook the sins of other people, including our own sins? I can point out several passages from the same book that teaches ‘adulterers’ are to be ‘stoned to death’ as well, and yet many in our ‘Christian camps’ today have no hesitation with calling some well-known adulterers, both past and present …‘God’s anointed’.

[long dramatic pause here]

Let me be clear here- no one (that I know of or heard/read anywhere) is suggesting that what Ms. Clancy did was not evil. And it is unlikely this woman will ever see freedom again. No doubt, she is facing the reality of the consequences of her horrific actions; and I cannot even begin to fathom all the tragic details that led to such an ending for those kids of hers, not to mention the anguish all those in the surrounding immediate families have had to deal with.

But for all those who feel compelled to make a ‘righteous stand for justice’ and ‘uphold the laws of the land’…because we are indeed a ‘nation of law and order’…I have some ‘rhetorical’ questions for you.

Were you aware that according to the ‘righteous judgment of God’, there is a list given of various examples of ungodly and ‘unrighteous’ acts that Paul suggested we already knew… were ‘deserving of death’, and not only those who did these things, but also those who approved of those who practice these things’; maybe ‘turning a blind eye’, as the good book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy implied?

You might read through Romans 1:28-32 and look that list over, because it included such things like ‘murder’, which Lindsay Clancy was charged with committing. But in that same paragraph, you’ll also read where things like ‘backbiters’ and ‘gossips’ and those who are ‘proud’ and ‘boasters’ and ‘disobedient to parents’ are in the same category of those ‘deserving of death’. Being ‘full of envy and strife’, and 'unforgiving' and 'unmerciful' in there as well. You might also want to read the next few verses there where Paul writes “you are inexcusable…whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself” (Rom. 2:1).

I know…it’s ‘all about the law’, right? And while angry and passionate ‘Christians’ are demanding to ‘uphold the laws of the land’…God is looking at us with His hands in the air asking: “What about My laws?”

It’s hard for me to not be drawn back to the story found in John’s gospel, where a woman caught in the very ‘act of adultery’…was brought before Jesus by some religious experts of the day, demanding for Jesus to weigh in on what should be done to this vile, wretched woman. They quoted the law of Moses, even pointing out to Jesus that the law demanded she be stoned to death. Funny how they missed that part that both parties involved were to be stoned, but somehow they forgot to bring the man who was also taking part.

And Jesus did not disagree with them, because the law is clear indeed. But what He did do was open up the public execution to those in attendance, inviting anyone in that crowd who was ‘without sin…to throw the first stone’. (John 8:1-7).

Perhaps we are living in a time when we would do well to heed the advice of James who admonished us to be ‘quick to listen and slow to speak’. (Jame 1:19).

If after reading this, your takeaway from what I have shared here is that we ought to just open all the prison doors and let everyone out because it’s the ‘Christian thing to do’…then you missed the point here all together; and we’ll just have to agree to disagree.