Cast no stones

There is a very popular saying that goes, "people who live in glass houses should not throw stones." The principle appears to be essentially the same as a story from John 8:7, which I also talked about in my previous post from last week. Although I talked about this last week, I think it is such an important principle to live by, so I thought I'd look at it a little more and apply it to modern times in a current scenario.

First, let's go back to John 8:7. In this story, the religious leaders of Jesus' time, the Pharisees, had brought a woman who was just caught in adultery to Jesus and were asking him what they should do with her. Now, in this story we can see that the Pharisees were actually trying to bait Jesus into a situation where they could get him to say something contrary to the law, so they would have a basis for accusing him and discrediting him. They knew Jesus was all about love and healing people, so they probably figured it was likely that he would recommend something that didn't align with what the law of Moses instructed to do with an adulterer, which was to stone the offender to death. Jesus, being the Son of God and all, knows exactly what they are up to and he knows the thoughts and sins of the hearts of those standing before him. He therefore pulls a classic Jesus move and he refuses to be baited into their trap, and instead flips the situation around on those who are bringing the accusation by saying the quote that is so well known, and I would argue is the basis of the "glass houses" quote that is used outside of the bible:

'When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ' -John 8:7 NIV

Did you notice that in his interaction with the Pharisees he doesn't even address the woman who committed adultery? His sole focus is on the Pharisees and rebuking them for their hypocrisy. These guys weren't at all interested in entering into the woman's world and trying to understand what was going on in her life that led her to make such a bad decision. They weren't interested in helping her to turn her life around and make better decisions moving forward. They were simply using her as a pawn for their own gain and their own agenda.

I think that it's always easy to read things in the bible, or anything in history for that matter, and fail to see the parallels in our modern times simply because the scenery and the circumstances look different. One thing I have learned from studying the bible is that the human heart has really never changed over time. The times may changes, the culture may change and look different, the way accusations are made may change and vary, but at the end of the day, we repeat the same behaviors over and over, throughout history. We see this observation made by the author in the book of Ecclesiastes:

'What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.' -Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 NIV

You see, the core issue in the human heart is sin. In the example with the Pharisees in John 8:7, the motives of their heart were sinful. It seems that the primary reason they are willing to use her as a pawn is really to get at Jesus, but I think another reason is to elevate themselves. This was a classic move they were well known for, and called out by Jesus many times for it. The focus of the Pharisees was almost always to focus on the outward appearance of a person and their lives, and to neglect the internal issues of the heart. It's easy to focus on what a person has done and to neglect what's going on under the surface in their heart, recognizing that we are all capable of sinning in the same ways as every other human being. This is why he elaborated on this so much in his teaching, for example, in Matthew 5 he teaches that engaging in lustful thoughts is actually the same as committing adultery, because in that case you've already done the deed in your heart:

'“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.' -Matthew 5:27-28 NIV

In other words, what we allow to go on in our hearts and minds actually reflects the type of person we truly are. As human beings we tend to do what the Pharisees often did and just focus on what's on the outside of our lives, and to neglect what's going on inside of our hearts. When we see someone else do something shameful, how often are we quick to point it out on social media and to say, "Look at that person, shame on them, I would never do something like that!" My personal thought on social media in this regard is that it is a social contagion because it enables people to so quickly and easily condemn others with no regard for what might be going on in their lives, or to consider the consequences on the person or those close to them, after being publicly shamed and humiliated. There's a reward for doing this on social media too because we often choose to live in an echo chamber, surrounded by people that think just like we do. We can hang someone out to dry with absolutely no consequence to ourselves because we have no connection to that person, we can shame them publicly and then close out our phone or computer and go about our day. Meanwhile, we are getting likes from all of our friends who also think it's great to tear someone down, so it reinforces itself. When we look at the world through a lens of externally focused, works-based thinking, and fail to look at the heart of people, this is where we can end up. Jesus told another story in Luke that is reminiscent of this modern day example that I just shared:

'To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ' -Luke 18:9-14 NIV

Everyone has a story, everyone has most likely gone through good times and hard times. If you haven't gone through hard times yet, just wait. We all bring our own baggage and psychology along with us, and that greatly influences the decisions we make as a way to cope with the ups and downs of life. It's easy to look down our nose at others who have done something that "we would never do." One thing the bible is clear about is that every person has sin in their heart: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23 NIV). Are we able to see that even if we haven't done a particular sin that we are hanging someone else for, we've probably done other things that are equally bad, if not worse? If we fail to see the potential in ourselves to sin equally, we are full of pride, and we only fool ourselves.

To throw stones from a glass house is to fail to recognize the fragility of our own lives, and the fact that every single one of us is capable of sin and wrongdoing in some capacity. Is it possible that you're one day away from your entire house of cards collapsing in on itself and destabilizing the life you once knew? Once the comfort of routine fades away, are you going to be in a position to sit here and judge everyone around you still, or might you fall into negative coping habits to get by? Do you have skeletons in your closet that you make sure to keep locked away, far away from the public square? What if someone found out about the secret addiction or habit that you have and put it all over Facebook, destroying your reputation overnight? To have a realistic view of the sin in our own heart and to allow it to shape how we treat other people is to live out the "golden rule," which Jesus also taught about:

"Do to others as you would have them do to you." -Luke 6:31 NIV

If we act in humility and recognize the potential for sin in our own lives, we are far less likely to judge other people in an attempt to elevate ourselves. If we look at the plank in our own eye before pointing out the speck of dust in someone else's eye (Matthew 7:1-5) and to consider how we would prefer to be treated, perhaps we may be moved to compassion and empathy that allows us to consider what might be going on in someone's life that caused them to get to the point they are currently at. In the story in John 8:7, I wonder what this may have looked like in that context. What was going on in the woman's life that led her to adultery? Did she possibly have an abusive husband, or even just one that was consumed with his job or religious duties while he neglected the marriage relationship with his wife, leaving her lonely and vulnerable? We simply don't know. And even if the worst possible scenario would be true, it would never justify whatever sin was committed, but it can provide a way to look into the life of that person and what led them to that point, which then paves the way for compassion and empathy.

Perhaps instead of being so quick to throw rocks at others, we can instead recognize the glass bubble from in which we are standing. Perhaps as we pick up the rock that we intend to throw at someone in condemnation for something they've done, we can instead choose to look at ourselves and reflect on Jesus' words from John 8:7: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” In living this way, we truly "love our neighbor as ourself" (Matthew 22:39).