Hard and Holy: Commission

A different perspective on the woman caught in adultery, even though I’ve read that story so many times. What must it have been like to be caught in her brokenness, and have everyone she knew pick up their stones? Eventually, the older religious leaders had the wisdom to drop their stones and walk away first, then the younger leaders followed. We typically put ourselves in their place and recognize that we wouldn’t be able to (and shouldn’t) throw stones either, and we call that lesson good enough. But we are not called to be like the religious leaders. We are called to be like Jesus. And Him? He didn’t walk away. He sat with her in her pain, in her shame, in her rejection, in her embarrassment, in her brokenness. He spoke truth to her, but he didn’t walk away from her. Instead, he commissioned her. 

Because of this, we (Christians) should sit with people in their pain, in their shame, in their rejection, in their embarrassment, in their brokenness. We speak truth, but we don’t walk away. We commission them. That is incredibly hard to do, and I’m still learning what this looks like. But I am so thankful for the people this year who sat with us in our pain and commissioned us. What a gift they are to us. I want to be that type of friend and leader.