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Casting the First Stone

 "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." ~ John 8:7

As many of you probably know, the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl last Sunday. Many of you probably also know that at one point in the game, tight end Travis Kelce was seen shoving and yelling at coach Andy Reid. Many people, Christians included, have said that he should have been benched and fined for that incident, with some even going so far as to say he should be kicked off the team. There was a mass shooting at Wednesday's victory parade. However, Thursday morning, the DJs at the Christian radio station I listened to were more focused on Kelce's comment that he would leave the team if Coach Reid retired, and speculating that he just said that to cover himself after the televised outburst. They didn't even mention the shooting at all.

What all of these comments have in common is that they are judging someone harshly for nine seconds of irrationality. Who among us hasn't had nine seconds of irrationality at one time or another? I probably had at least that much just this morning in a discussion with my husband. Why are we so quick to judge people for things that we do ourselves? I think the answer lies in the fact that it's not something we're proud of, so we're quick to notice when others do it and judge them accordingly. I think this is what Jesus wanted us to be aware of in his command found in Matthew 7:5. He said, "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye." He knows us well enough to know our tendency to act rashly, and in this case, we end up acting the same way as the person we're judging.

So what's the solution to this? It starts with obeying the command quoted at the beginning of this post. We have to examine ourselves before we judge others. Travis Kelce is human just like the rest of us, and as such, is prone to moments of human weakness. I know I wouldn't want everyone to know of some of my worst moments. Just because his worst moment was broadcast for the world to see, it doesn't give us permission to act as though a bad nine seconds means he's a bad person.

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