I always laugh at myself whenever I remember an incident that occurred on my first ever trip outside my home country- Nigeria. I had finished picking the items I wanted to buy at a large shopping mall and headed to the checkout counter. The cashier was attending to one person, while the rest of the people stood behind the waiting line. I wasn’t used to this and I just felt the people were not done with their shopping. I thought to myself; “if they wanted to pay, they’ll be in line in front of the cashier”. In my ignorance, I walked past all the people on the queue and stood behind the person at the till. Nobody said a word to me including the cashier, who was kind enough to attend to me and I left the shop afterwards, without an inkling that I had made a fool of myself. Sometimes, I still wonder what was going on in the minds of those people then.
At that time, I didn’t know any better, so I did not really know that I was completely out of order. I can’t quite remember how I learnt my lesson, but I know I did not make the mistake again. I am sure that at least one of those people must have judged me for my wrong doing, without thinking that I might have been acting in ignorance. It might have been helpful if any of them had corrected me nicely. There are actually many people making similar mistakes in various facets of life and they are completely ignorant of a better way. That was why Paul said in Romans 10:14
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
While I agree that there are many people today, who are willingly living in the wrong, you may not have the right to judge them until you have at least tried to direct them to the right direction. So next time you think of placing the SINNER tag on someone and judging them, ask yourself what you have done about it and plan to do something about it. I believe that is our primary assignment as God’s children.
Chidi Ukandu's Blog 