On Mother's Day 2012 a North Carolina Baptist pastor preached a disturbing sermon that went viral. In his sermon, this pastor said: "I figured a way to get rid of all the lesbians and queers. Build a great big large fence, fifty or a hundred miles long, put all the lesbians in there. Fly over and drop some food. Do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can't get out. And you know what? In a few years, they'll die out. Do you know why? They can't reproduce!" He later added, "it makes me pukin' sick to think about. Can you imagine kissing some man?"

Whatever you think about homosexuality, this kind of hateful condemnation is deeply troubling. It's also a prime example of bad religion. And it is not a new development. Even in Jesus' day, judgmental religion was a serious problem. Throughout his ministry, Jesus regularly challenged the arrogant and judgmental religion he saw all around him.

One of the most famous biblical stories dealing with judgmental religion is found in John 8:1-11. In this familiar story (although it was not originally in John, and is marked on later copies to be removed when copied again), a woman is caught in the act of adultery. Religious leaders wanted to stone her to death in accord with Jewish law. Jesus responded, "Let any of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7). Eventually, everyone left the scene, leaving their stones behind. This powerful story of grace illustrates at least four problems with judgmental religion.

Jesus' emphasis was always on love. When Jesus was asked, "of all the commandments, which is the most important?" his answer was the simple imperative to love God and love our neighbors. Good religion constantly encourages believers to engage in service to other people, for God's sake, for others' sake, and for our own. Leave any judging to God. We are not called to be prosecutors but defense: for the widow, orphan and poor. We will be judged, by how we treated people in need.