Lecrae Questions 'Judgmental Christians' in Viral Facebook Post; Asks if 'Our Critiques Tear Down or Build and Restore?'
Rapper Lecrae Moore took to Facebook Tuesday to admonish fellow Christians who are judgmental and seem to purposefully look for specks in their brother's or sister's eye without ever considering that the "standard" of their faith is grace and love.
"Christians why are we so judgmental? Not as in calling our [brothers] and [sisters] to walk worthy of the Gospel but sometimes I think we are absolutely LOOKING for something wrong, off, or sinful about people," Lecrae wrote Tuesday afternoon on his fan page.
While acknowledging that there are some Christians who may believe "in a tyrant of a god who is waiting around every corner to smack his followers for not being perfect," the rapper, who professionally uses just his first name, reminded readers that whatever corrections or calls they attempt to make on others should be done in love.
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"Our standard is GRACE and LOVE. Without LOVE we have nothing. I'm all for real rebuke and correction but that should be done in love! The goal is to restore not tear down," he added.
Lecrae, a frequent guest speaker and performer at Christian conferences, went on to point out that no one is perfect and all deserve God's wrath, but that due to God's grace, they have been "adopted, cleaned up, and given sight."
"What place do we have to see ourselves as any better than others? It's ONLY grace that separates us from the rapist, thief, murderer, or liar," he added, before going on to cite 1 Cor. 13:3-7, included in Lecrae's full remarks below.
Lecrae's Facebook remarks had racked up more than 7,000 "likes" and over 2,500 shares on the social network in less than hour after it was posted. A copy of the remarks also received quite a bit of interaction on Instagram among Lecrae's followers, where the image had more than 4,600 "likes" by press time.
Fans who commented on the rapper's Facebook post agreed with his sentiment, with the most "liked" response stating: "It does seem we are known for what we are against and not what we are for!"
Another top commenter stated, "I am not ashamed of Christ, but the judgmental personality of some people sometimes makes me embarrassed to be called a Christian."
Lecrae's call out to judgmental Christians came after a brief video announcement he made about his upcoming "Church Clothes 2" mixtape, set for a Nov. 7 release. In the video, the Reach Records recording artist who took home a Dove Award this year, gave a disclaimer for an included track, "Devil in Disguise" featuring Kevin Ross.
"It's a perspective, not my story, so don't misinterpret that," Lecrae says in the video disclaimer.
Lecrae, 34, has shared in the past the difficulty he sometimes has with fans, both Christian and non-Christian, when it comes to his faith and producing hip-hop, and the collaborations with secular artists that his work sometimes involves.
"As far as the world is concerned, it's mostly pre-conceived ideas of what I'm about. So they haven't really investigated enough to know how Christian it is or what it is that's gonna happen," the married Atlanta rapper said of his music.
"On the Christian side, there's a sense of like, 'See, Lecrae is falling off, he's getting worldly. I heard him do this song, he's performing at this place ...'," he explained, giving examples of the kind of criticism he might receive on social media.
Lecrae's unedited Facebook post can be read in full below:
Christians why are we so judgmental? Not as in calling our bros and sis to walk worthy of the Gospel but sometimes I think we are absolutely LOOKING for something wrong, off, or sinful about people.
I understand why someone who's standard is themselves is judgmental. Or someone who believes in a tyrant of a god who is waiting around every corner to smack his followers for not being perfect.
But our God is a loving gracious God who KNEW we could never live up to his righteous standard. That's why his righteousness is given to us through Jesus.
Our standard is GRACE and LOVE. Without LOVE we have nothing. I'm all for real rebuke and correction but that should be done in love! The goal is to restore not tear down.
I just want to know why we think we are anything more than imperfect, wrath deserving, blind fools that GOD has adopted, cleaned up, and given sight to?
What place do we have to see ourselves as any better than others? It's ONLY grace that separates us from the rapist, thief, murderer, or liar.
1st Cor. 13:3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Do we believe the best or are we expecting the worst? Do our critiques tear down or build and restore?
Watch CP's exclusive interview with Lecrae at the 2013 Dove Awards, and the official trailer for his "Church Clothes 2" mixtape below:
