“When Jesus stood up, he said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, Lord,’ she answered. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus. ‘Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)
The apostle John probably did not write those words. You would be hard-pressed to find a translation that doesn’t include them in at least a footnote in his Gospel, but they were probably written sometime after he died by someone else. Still, this particular story from Jesus’ life probably really did happen. The conclusion of the story here is powerful, and in one moment captures both sides of a tension that our church culture struggles to balance. Some folks fall pretty firmly on one side and Jesus’ refusal to condemn to death this sinful woman; some on the other, when Jesus commanded her not to sin anymore. In the last couple of weeks, our culture has been treated to a bit of a high level debate mostly between two of the highest profile Christian leaders in the country, Albert Mohler and Andy Stanley. I’ve had a chance to read or listen to their reactions and responses to a conference Andy’s church recently hosted that aimed to give support to Christian parents of kids who have come out as somewhere along the LGBTQ spectrum. To say it created a bit of a stir in the Christian world would be a bit of an understatement. As someone who has a fair bit of respect for both men, here are a few of my thoughts.
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The Nexus 