The story of the adulteress in John 8 is well known. A woman was caught in adultery and brought to Jesus, and the scribes and Pharisees brought up the law that said adulterers should be stoned. Jesus replied, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7). So when we think of casting stones, we usually think of casting stones at others. But I think there’s actually 3 ways we can cast stones: at others, at yourself, and at God.
At Others
Let’s face it, we’ve all done it. I think it’s a common response because it makes ourselves feel better about the sin in our lives. “Yes, I lie, but at least I don’t cuss like he does.” Or “Yes, I don’t read my Bible but at least I don’t dress like she does.” The problem with this is, we cannot judge others because we are sinners, too.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Matthew 7:1-3
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
James 2:10
This is why Jesus said for the one who is without sin to cast the stone first. He knew no one could. He was the only sinless person there, and He chose not to condemn her (verse 11).
For more on this, read my post The Sin Spectrum.
At Yourself
Have you ever made a mistake and beat yourself up over it? I have. In college, I realized I was committing spiritual adultery. I repented and worked hard to change, but I kept beating myself up over it. And I was so afraid that I would repeat that mistake that I let it hold me back. I stopped stepping out on faith because I didn’t want to mess up again. But God had forgiven me. I knew He had. He wasn’t holding it against me.
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12
I couldn’t forgive myself, though. Then one day I realized something. If Jesus, being perfect, can offer forgiveness to us, who are we to withhold it? Not only do we sometimes hold forgiveness from others, we also withhold it from ourselves. And casting stones at ourselves will do nothing but hold us back. Yes, we’ll make mistakes, and God knows this. But He loves us anyway, and He can use our mistakes for good (Romans 8:28).
Let’s look at Peter for example. In my post, Jesus Isn’t Surprised By Your Sin, I talk about how Peter denied Jesus and wept over it. But Jesus knew Peter would do that, and Jesus died for Him anyway. And then when the angel told the women that Jesus had risen from the dead, the angel told them to go tell the disciples AND Peter. He mentioned Peter by name! I think that looks a lot like forgiveness. I think Jesus wanted Peter to know that Jesus had forgiven Him. And God used Peter in such a mighty way for His church.
At God
When I say casting stones at God, I mean the times when we say, “Why would God do this?” Or “If I were God, I would…”
I myself was angry with God at one time. Both of my grandfathers died before I was born, and I was angry that I didn’t get a chance to know them. I saw home videos and pictures of the family that didn’t include me, and I would think, “Why would God not allow me to get to meet my grandfathers?”
And then my great uncle moved in with my grandmother. We became very close, and I considered him a surrogate grandfather. Then he died.
I lashed out at God. “Why would you take him away from me? First my grandfathers, and now him?”
It seems silly to me now that I’m older. But at the time, the pain was real. I couldn’t understand what God was doing. Then I remembered something my grandmother told me at the funeral home. I was standing beside my great uncle’s casket, and she took my hand and said, “He’s with Mama and Daddy and Aunt Betty. And he’s not sick anymore.”
The words hit me. My great uncle wasn’t sick anymore. My grandfathers weren’t sick anymore. They were at Jesus’ feet.
And I was angry about that.
I realized how selfish I was. Now, my anger didn’t feel selfish. It felt justified. But I was being selfish. I wanted to have my grandfathers and my great uncle back in a troubled world instead of at peace with Jesus.
The hard thing is that we can’t understand God. We want to know why He does everything, but our minds can’t wrap around it. Yet we try to put ourselves on His level by dictating what we think He should do.
I think Job 38-41 is a great place to look when we start doing this. In these chapters, God illustrate to Job several things we cannot do or comprehend. But God can because He’s God.
See, life is like a jigsaw puzzle with thousands of pieces. Usually when you put together a jigsaw puzzle, you have the box with the picture on it to help you put the puzzle together. But when it comes to life, we don’t have the box. So we sit there and try to put pieces together with no direction, no idea where to go, until we give up and throw the pieces down before walking away.
But God has the box. God knows what pieces go together, what pieces look like they might but don’t, and what pieces have no business being near each other. Sometimes He puts those pieces together in an order that seems strange to us, but in the end, it forms the picture He knew it would.
No matter how we cast stones, it will always hurt us more than anyone else. It will affect our relationships with others and with God. But by remembering the grace of God, we can learn to avoid casting stones at others, casting stones at ourselves, and casting stones at God.
