Osler's Razor

No matter how many times Jesus taught us to forgive one another, it seems like we resist. We tend too often to be a church of judgement, not of love, no matter how many times Jesus taught otherwise. We ostracize people who have sinned instead of welcoming them, and see ourselves as superior rather than humbled.

In a lot of churches, this was part of the Gospel reading for this morning, from Matthew 18:21-35:

"Then Peter came and said to him, 'Lord if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.'"

Man, that's tough. And we don't do it. We give up on people, talk bad about them, exclude them, for one or two sins (provided they are sins we aren't openly committing, too).

Could Jesus have been any more straightforward? But still I see so many people in the church who see their job as judging and condemning others, rather than loving and forgiving those whose behavior we disagree with. I think, in short, that we have a problem with letting God be God-- we would rather have that task ourselves, so that we can see ourselves as above others, able to judge and condemn at will. I will admit that there have been times that I have done this, too, and given the clearness of this teaching, perhaps that itself has been one of my greatest sins.