A Stone’s Throw

READ: JOHN 8:1-11

I don’t even know why we need to have this conversation. Although I didn’t say that thought out loud, my eyebrows slanted halfway toward my nose and my arms wrapped tightly around my chest declared exactly what I was thinking.

Why in the world we had to have a discussion about what music we listened to in youth group, my sophomore self couldn’t figure out. I had shunned anything under a secular label and only listened to TobyMac if I felt edgy that day. Hadn’t I already checked off the box for listening to God-honoring music? So, why did I have to endure this talk?

A girl with curly hair hugged her knees. “To be honest, I really struggle with this. A lot of the music I listen to swears left and right, and I have just become numb to it. I’m not even thinking about what the words mean.”

Another boy in a hoodie seconded a reply. “If I really think about it, the way some singers talk about women in the music I listen to…” He shook his head, ears a slight scarlet. “Let’s just say, my mom’s not in my room when my Spotify’s up.”

Three others spoke about their struggles with music that glorified everything from drug overdoses to all manner of things that happen behind closed doors.

Oh.

I unraveled my arms and let my shoulders relax. Why was I being judgmental about this when I struggled with my own kind of music? Sure, it may not have come from a Spotify playlist, but I, on a regular basis, listened to plenty of tunes called Jealousy, Pride, Anger Problems, and the occasional Gossip. And to be honest, I didn’t want my mom in my room when I played that playlist.

Why did I want to throw stones, when we all played the same music of sin? • Hope Bolinger

• What are some ways you find yourself throwing stones at others?

• What are some types of “music” you struggle with?

But when they continued asking him [Jesus], he looked up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.” John 8:7 (WEB)