Then years later, the original witness who saw him commit his armed robbery sent him an email reminding him of his crime. The man then decides to come before his congregation to confess his crime. Yes, he had robbed a liquor store and he had used a gun during the commission of that crime. But he assured the congregation that it was a one-time slip-up. He never committed another robbery and since that time, had gotten rid of all his guns. He even worked tirelessly to support politicians who wanted to make it more strict for people to obtain guns and ammo.

The congregation listened intently and when he was finished speaking, they gave him a standing ovation? Absurd, right? This is essentially what the people at Highpoint Church in TN did when Andy Savage finished his confession. He did not deny "making a mistake." He said he had done everything he knew to accept full responsibility for his actions toward Jules Woodson.

Actually, no, had Andy Savage turned himself into the authorities at that time, he would have been arrested, tried, and likely found guilty of sexual assault. He would have gone to prison and would have needed to be registered as a sexual offender. Because of that, he would not have been able to work around young people again...ever.

As expected there are Christians who have come to the defense of Andy Savage, Teaching Pastor at Highpoint Church in Memphis, TN. This is regarding his confession before the congregation about a sexual assault, which he admitted occurred some twenty years ago against a then 17-year-old woman, Jules Woodson. Because she was underage at the time, Texas law protected her very specifically, even spelling out the terms of clergy responsibilities and the high standard held to them when dealing with young people especially.

But of course, there are Christians who quote "Judge not!" and "Who will cast the first stone?" and do so completely out of their original contexts, which changes their original meaning. Let's take a look at these two verses in their contexts to see what God is telling us through Holy Writ.

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. (Matthew 7:1-2 KJV)

The above verses are part of what is known as the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus offered wisdom for many different situations. At first glance, it might be assumed that He is saying that no one should judge anyone else on anything. Is that correct? No, that cannot be what Jesus is saying because if that is what Jesus is saying, then we must ignore major portions of the New Testament. In fact, if Jesus says we cannot judge anyone, then the apostle Paul was completely out of line in telling the Corinthian believers to expel the immoral man from among them for his carnality (1 Corinthians 5:13).

Paul also spends a great deal of time space helping pastors understand how to deal with people and their specific sins. He does this in numerous epistles. In 1 & 2 Timothy as well as Titus, he spends time discussing the high qualifications for anyone who wants to become an elder or "overseer." We went over some of these in our last article.

So, if Christians are not to judge other Christians...