Bob Hamp

The Message?  The Message is simple.  We all, disconnected from God, are empty and filled with self.  God Himself, in the Person of Jesus, in His great love reached out to us to rescue us from this state and restore to us everything we have given away.  Giving us back, all of the life we have lost, God saves us through the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son.  

Some would say that to talk about sin is judgmental, and we need to drop that part of the message.  Others would say that presenting Jesus as the only way is narrow and again, judgmental, we should be more open-minded.

Picture with me for a moment a trip to the Doctor.  You arrive in great discomfort. Anxious for help you are dismayed when he refuses to diagnose you.  

“It would be judgmental to tell you that you are sick,” he says.  He then asks you the strangest question.

“What kind of medicine would you like?”

It occurs to you that you would not need medicine if you were not sick, but you ask anyway, “Well Doc, what’s wrong with me?”

He appears uncomfortable, squirms a bit and says, “I didn’t say you were sick did I? I would hate for you to feel judged by me”

“I feel terrible, just tell me what kind of medicine I need to take.”

“Well,” he stutters, “not everyone likes every kind of medicine, what kind of medicine do you prefer?”

You can see the silliness of this.  

Judgment is an attitude and a condition of the heart.  The condition of man requires an accurate diagnosis and a compassionate but specific treatment.  We should love people enough to help them.