Sources of Truth

"We should not be ashamed to acknowledge truth and to assimilate it from whatever source it comes to us, even if it is brought to us by former generations and foreign peoples. For him who seeks the truth there is nothing of higher value than truth itself; it never cheapens or debases him who reaches for it but ennobles and honors him"

~  Yaqub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (d. ca. 870)

The First Wall of Evangelical Christianity - JUDGMENT

Seed Thoughts for the Good News Garden

“To judge, or not to judge, that is the question”

A friend and I used to work out at Bally’s gym on a regular basis. There were two rather masculine looking ladies who were always there at the same time working out. My friend and I assumed they were Lesbian partners. One day only one of them came to the gym and I politely asked, ‘where is your partner?” She replied “my mom is not feeling very well today.” Oops.

A few years ago, I started through a study of the “commands of Christ” with my son (at his suggestion). It was a life changing experience for me. As I read through the gospels, looking closely at Jesus’ actions and words, looking for imperatives, I realized that I had a lot of unwarranted assumptions that came from current church life or from Paul but were not founded in the actual teachings of Jesus. One particular imperative of Christ, expressed in the negative, caught my attention. Matt. 7:1 Jesus explicitly tells us in the imperative to not judge others.  There are many things that we think Christians should do that Jesus never mentioned; but one thing that he clearly forbade us to do, many if not most Christians engage in fully, frequently and fervently. We constantly make judgments of one another and we most especially judge the ‘outsiders’; those who are not part of the Christian community.

In the anecdote above, I had made quick judgments about these two ladies based on their outward appearance (not that it was any of my business anyway!). As scripture says, Man judges by the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. And very often, the heart of a person is quite different from our easy judgments based on their external appearance.

Incarnational Witness sabotaged

This becomes a huge obstacle for the church’s incarnational witness to the world. We often judge others and make assumptions about the spiritual condition of their hearts based on outward appearance or behavior. Theoretically, the church teaches that the grace of God is for anyone and everyone regardless of their outward behavior, but our actions and attitudes are not consistent. Jesus said that the one who is “forgiven much, also loves much.” When we judge others to be worse sinners than ourselves, we often miss the hidden qualities of humility, contrition and faith, working deep in their hearts, or as Henri Nouwen would say, the “twilight zones” of the heart. And we also overlook the subtle attitudes or pride, self-righteousness and entitlement in the twilight zones of our own hearts. If we are not careful, we wind up in the position of the “righteous” Pharisee whothanked God he was not like the desperate sinner who was praying next to him and went home unjustified. Two men went up to pray, an Evangelical Christian husband who was homeschooling his children, and the desperate porn addict who was crying out for mercy. Which one went home justified?

Solo αγάπη

A friend of mine believes that just like the first Reformation revolved around the concept of Sola Scritura (only faith through the authority of scripture), the pending twenty-first century Reformation must revolve around Sola Agape, (only faith working through love). In order for the church to fully grasp the revelation that God is Agape, we MUST let go of our judgments. 

Part of the confusion about when it is appropriate to judge, and when it is not, comes from the fact that there are at least three different Greek words that can be translated as “judgment” in the New Testament.

Do not κρίνω

The first is Krino, this is the word that Jesus used to command us NOT to judge (Krino). Picture a judge in black robes with a gavel who is about to pronounce guilt and execute a sentence of punishment. THAT is the judgment that we are NOT to do. It is not our right to pronounce guilt or to decide upon punishment for alleged sinners. That is ONLY God’s right (see the story of the womancaught in adultery!).

Analysis and discernment

The other two words are anakrino (analysis) and diakrino (discernment). Picture a doctor in a white medical coat with a stethoscope, attempting discern the cause of an illness I order to offer a lifesaving diagnosis. This is the only spirit with which we are allowed to exercise judgment, in the same spirit as the Great Physician seeking to save that which is lost, seeking to heal those who need a physician.

We are to judge ourselves before the table ofthe Lord (αναμνησιν). Prophets are to submit their prophesies for the judgment of other prophets (διακρινετωσαν). The only time we are told to judge with Krino is in the the future kingdom, we will one day judge angels. Paul specifically forbids us to judge outsiders, and says that we are only to exercise judgment within the spiritual community, among those who call themselves “brothers.” He also encourages us not to disassociate ourselves with those who are outside the community of faith. We normally do the opposite, we specifically disassociate with outsiders who we think are obvious sinners, and spend our time with fellow Christians with very little personal or truthful accountability for the secrets places of our lives.

So to sum up, Jesus tells us never to judge (Krino) under any circumstance. Paul, however, offers some nuanced qualifications about exercising compassionate and redemptive analysis and discernment under specific conditions. We have completely ignored the imperative of Jesus and we have stretched and strained Paul's careful guidelines. 

Would you be willing to say a prayer with me? “Dear God, I repent for judging those around me instead of incarnating your agape love for them. Please forgive me and reveal to me the many ways that I judge others falsely, and help me to learn to release my judgments and to choose to love and bring healing instead. Amen.”

Let’s stop judging and start loving! This is the way we can change the world.

…………………………………

By-the-way, I am continuing to post selections from Debbie’s journal online at http://gracerhythmsunforced.blogspot.com/ -- I feel like I am getting to know her in new ways, and her voice is still speaking to me.

Thank you!