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!
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