Judgment – Chris Linzey

Christians LOVE to judge people.

Well, to be honest, it’s a human trait. I asked a group of people to identify ways in which they have been judged or have judged others. What do you think they came up with?

We judge people based on appearance
We judge people based on their vehicles
We judge people’s intelligence based on our ability to understand them (we often see foreigners as less intelligent when they don’t speak English)
We judge people based on their punctuality (or lack thereof)
We judge people based on their beliefs (whether they have a different faith than we have or even if they believe different elements of our OWN faith! How many Christian denominations do we have now?)

And this is just the first 5 that came to mind. In a couple minutes we came up with a dozen+ items.

judgment While we all judge and are judged, it’s not SUPPOSED to be this way for those in God’s kingdom. We’re supposed to be above it. We’re supposed to let go of judging others. And most people know this. How often have you heard someone say, “Only God can judge me!”

YES! AND HE IS!

What people really mean when they say this is, “Don’t tell me how to live my life!”

But the Bible is clear that there IS such a thing as objective truth. There is right and there is wrong. You don’t get to make it up and live life however you want. Well, you CAN, but the end results won’t be the outcome you really desire.

And the Bible doesn’t tell us never to judge. What Jesus really says is this:

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7)

What Jesus said is that our hearts and motivations ought to be right. When we pass judgment on someone, our ultimate goal is really to change them without caring about the person. We don’t try to get them on board. We don’t try to build them up. This is why interventions rarely work – we try to impose our ideas on someone else but they never have a desire to really change.

plankeye Judgment tears people down without building people up. Judgment is more concerned with the tiny fault in someone else than the massive fault in ourselves. This is why Jesus gives us this absurdly humorous illustration about a log sticking out of our face.

If our REAL goal is to help people, let’s focus on cleaning our own mess before trying to help people with theirs. Then, when we’re ready to help, it is not, “LET ME TELL YOU WHY YOU NEED TO CHANGE!” It turns into, “I’ve walked this path, too, and if you want I’m willing to help you find a better way.”

Judgement shuts people down and closes off their spirits to receiving help. Genuine love is about caring for people and walking with them towards growth and maturity. Jesus doesn’t say, “Don’t judge.” He says, “Get yourself right and love people.”

God has given us a good way – a better way than the world offers. But when we approach people with judgment, no one is going to hear us.

This past week my wife and I were watching an interview with a celebrity when the interview asked about how she wanted religious people to respond to her when she was clearly living a life that conflicted with biblical values (granted, as read from a conservative Christian point of view).

The celebrity noted that she just wanted to be left to live her life without feeling judged by Christians.

There it is. That’s the kicker. What non-Christians really want from Christians is not to feel judged for who they are and what they do. Sounds simple enough, sure, but it’s an impossibility.

You see, the judging doesn’t come from people. The judging comes from the Bible. Yes, it might be communicated by people. Some do a better job at biting their tongues and not speaking the judgment, but the judgment originates with God, not with humanity.

People are quick to bring up Matthew 7:1 ~

“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.”

But they ignore the rest of the passage. Matthew 7:2 says,

“For as you judge. So will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.”

Then in Matthew 7:5 Jesus says,

“Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you sill see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

These passages are not telling Christians to avoid judging. They are telling us to take care of our own lives before trying to deal with issues in the lives of others. Truth be told, the Bible DOES judge. It’s filled with stories of good and bad character examples. It’s filled with lists of sins to avoid and qualities to embrace.

It is impossible to be a follower of Jesus and avoid feeling judged on our behavior. You should just shut the Bible and toss it in the trash. If you’re looking for a religion that lets people do what they want without any judgment, keep on looking – Christianity isn’t for you.

As for the rest of us who are Christians, while God is the one who passes judgment and tells us about it through the Bible, we CAN exercise discretion and wisdom in how we talk about judgment to people. Non-Christians typically don’t want to be hit upside the head with talk about judgment. Usually that kind of talk works best when you have a relationship with someone and, through conversation, they give you an “open door” – a green light to talk about the Bible and about faith.

We can go a long way in improving the relationship between Christianity and the world if we would understand that God DOES judge but that we don’t always have to shout it from the rooftops.

You know, we can be shrewd as serpents yet innocent as doves. I think I read that somewhere once.