The Case of the Josh's

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." 

Matthew 7:1-2

So here we are in the middle of baseball season, rooting for our home team watching a game with family over this Memorial Day weekend, when BOOM! It happens. Something completely thoughtless and insensitive comes out of my mouth about one of the returning players on the Texas Rangers. 

So many people flippantly throw judgements around about celebrities that many people don't think much about it, as if they weren't real. But my remark was so cutting, it took my husband by surprise and he was very quick to call me out on it. I immediately felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit in my heart after I said it and apologized to everyone in the room. But unfortunately the damage had been done. You're probably thinking how?! But for the other family members in the room, it spoke volumes about my character and ruined a piece of my witness to them. Now I know they forgave me and we all moved on with our evening, but I had a hard time dealing with something that so easily slipped out of my mouth. Matthew 7:1-2 came to my mind and later that evening, I asked God to forgive me. 

(My husband's jersey that he wore proudly today.)

Celebrity or not, we are all God's children. I praise God that my dirty laundry isn't aired on national news or else I would seem to have quite the scandalous past also. Josh Hamilton, the baseball player I referred to, claims himself to be a Christian and I need to be praying for my fellow brother in Christ instead of judging him. He might be messing up and making a lot of wrong choices in his life but he isn't immune to the healing power of God in his life just because his paycheck has a few more zeroes behind it than mine does. 

An example of another public figure on "trial" to society right now is Josh Duggar from TLC's 19 Kids and Counting. The story from what I hear is not an isolated incident. There is a history of sexual abuse and molestation stemming in SO many people's lives that I know, it is unreal! In fact I will go so far as to say that many aspects of his history mimics mine. I felt saddened by the judge and jury we as a country have become in the case of Josh Duggar, bringing it all back up again. God heals, He redeems and He restores! If this wasn't true I wouldn't be sitting here healed and whole myself writing this blog, with a book under my belt chronicling the long journey of hope and healing that sordid past put me on.

(Josh and his wife Anna Duggar. Photo Credit: People.Com)

The book of Job has volumes to say about these situations. As you read through you see three very good friends of Job come to comfort him after he lost his entire household, livestock and children all in one day. Then he was hit with a disease of painful boils and sores all over his body. All three friends sat there one by one, condemning Job for some "hidden sin" he must have committed and told him to repent to make his suffering stop. Only thing is that Job was a man of noble character. God actually describes him as blameless and upright. In fact this wasn't happening because of something Job did wrong, but the fact that he got everything right. God allowed Satan to test him to prove Job's faithful devotion to the Lord. 

God doesn't allow suffering to come upon someone as punishment for sin all the time, in fact some of the suffering we go through actually brings us closer to God. It's all in how we deal with the hardships as they come along. In the case of Josh Duggar, I believe he overcame his issues and dealt with them before God and family and was able to come out the other side. It was just terrible that a tabloid magazine got ahold of the past and decided to blast it all over the place. 

In the case of Josh Hamilton, I don't know his personal life and I won't claim to. But I do know that at least once in his life he claimed to know the Lord and I pray that he continues to strive for sobriety and healing in his personal life. 

So when I see these two men I want to root for the team that brings restorative healing and a powerful testimony to both Josh's. 

Enjoy this powerful new song by Nichole Nordeman called "The Unmaking"...

I’ll gather the same stones where
Everything came crashing down
I’ll build You an altar there
On the same ground

‘Cause what stood before
Was never Yours

This is the unmaking
The beauty in the breaking
Had to lose myself
To find out who You are
Before each beginning
There must be an ending
Sitting in the rubble
I can see the stars
This is the unmaking