Casting nets...or stones?

"God has called us to cast nets, not cast stones."

This was a status update on my Facebook the other day. While I posted it for everyone to see--to be honest--it was meant for me because these were the exact words the Lord spoke into my heart a few hours prior.

I was sitting at Starbucks with my Bible open in front of me teaching a lesson on studying the Scriptures to one of my sweet boys...Sounds great, right--like I should be scoring some mega-Christian bonus points or something?! Just keep reading...

It's roughly 9:30 in the morning, and most people in the Starbucks are either dressed one of three way: business-casual, mothers in their work-out clothes, or people (like me) that have quickly thrown on wrinkly pants and a shirt in a hurry to get some much-needed-Monday-morning-java.  No one really paid much attention to the other because we are all totally absorbed in our own worlds…some working, some reading, some chatting with friends… Until in walks this 40+ year-old woman, and the 20-something people in this Starbucks were suddenly very aware of not what we were wearing, but staring at what this woman was wearing.  I know that I was not the only who was staring because when I glanced around it seemed that everyone’s eyes were glued on this lady.  While I could only see her from the back, I was astounded by how tight her Victoria Secret shirt and Bebe jeans were painted onto her perfectly (very obviously enhanced) shapely body...

As she walked over to put cream in her coffee I saw her 6-inch patent leather platform black stilettos.  Yep, that’s right:

6-inch.

Platform.

Patent-leather.

Black stilettos.

4-descriptive words that could be shortened and just as effective with 4-simple letters:

S-E-X-Y

And let me tell you this woman oozed everything sexy.  

Now, let me remind you that my Bible lay open in front of me as I sat there wondering what in the world this woman was thinking?!  WHY on EARTH would she dress like that?!  Didn’t she know what people would THINK of her?! There is no way those shoes were comfortable to wear, so what was her rational for wearing them other than to be intentionally seductive?

Then she turned around and our eyes locked. Instantly, my ugly, judgmental heart shattered into humble pieces.  In that moment, it frankly did not matter what she wearing, what she looked like, what shoes she wore: because the only thing I could see was her eyes.  Eyes that didn’t exude sexiness but instead were shadowed with deep sadness.  If eyes are windows to the soul, like that old saying goes, this woman’s soul was profoundly hurting and broken.  Again, all while I had my Bible out in front of me judging her, criticizing her…casting stones at her. 

Unexpectedly, she walked over and introduced herself to me.  Quietly said her name, and asked if I was home schooling my son.  We continued to speak for the next half hour and I found out that her two boys had just been kicked out of their third school—just this year. 


She was a divorced mother who was weary.  
A momma that was hurting.  
A woman who needed a friend... 


I almost missed it because all my judging heart could see was the outside, not even giving a passing thought to look further.  (Thank God for His Grace.)

After she left, I couldn’t stop thinking about John 8….and wondering if I had been there with Jesus, maybe I would have been in the back observing from afar the haughty Pharisees judge the adulterous woman… probably while nodding my head in agreement with them?  Maybe I would have even been one holding a stone ready to throw, all while pondering what that woman had been thinking?  How sad. 


Instead of having the heart of Jesus, ready to reach out to the broken and lost…I had the eyes of a Pharisee ready to point a finger of opinion based on what simply what I saw on the surface. 

This has weighed so heavily on my heart, and has been something I have had to seek forgiveness and counsel from the Lord.  2 Corinthians 5:16-21 has been incredibly encouraging and on the forefront of my time with Jesus He has shined His light on this area in my life:

“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now…”

This is exactly what I had done with this woman in Starbucks.  The only thoughts I had towards her were critical and evaluating what really did not matter, and by doing so, I closed myself off from an opportunity to share God’s love, and fulfill what God has called me (as a Christ-follower) to do by loving others, building relationships in order to share the Good News. 

“And God has given us [as Christ-followers] this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation…So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us…”

So, again, if God has commissioned me, as a Christ-follower, to be a representative of Jesus I sadly missed the heart of Christ in that moment because I was filled with judgment.  The truth is Jesus did not come to judge the world, but as Luke 19:10 beautifully affirms, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

We are Christ’s ambassadors…not to judge the world…but to seek and save the lost through the Cross of Christ. 

I love what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:15:

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.” 

I am so thankful the Lord has admonished my heart and thoughts... drawing me closer Him, exposing what is offensive to Him, all so I can have the honor and joy to share about the Hope we have in Him with others. 

Be Still and Know that Jesus has called us to represent His Love to others who do not know Him.  We cannot accomplish this—I can’t accomplish this—if the hands we should be using to reach out to others are filled with stones to throw at them.