Judgement

Yet again I find myself in my room on another beautiful sunny day peering out over my Bible, random books, my laptop, and oddly enough, my Sleeping Giant t-shirt that I am so very fond of that says "Don't you judge me!" This statement is taken from their song "Blame if on the Holy rollers" in which they sight Romans 8:31 as the backbone for opposition to such people thus mentioned in the song. The song is more or less a stab at conservative, "blue wig" christians. But, nevertheless, I feel that by pointing a finger ("don't point your finger" is a line from the song) at them, or faulting them for their "false and short sighted views that hold them back from the truth" I feel as if, by the definition thus proposed, they have in fact fallen victim to their own standard. All in all, I feel that as a whole, society has, and continues to, miss the mark! What I mean is that I am under the impression that most people don't really take the time to find out what Jesus was talking about when he said "Judge not, and you will not be judged"(Matthew 7:1; Luke 6:37) The point of this blog is not to lay out my solution or my opinion, its rather just the gasoline that needs to be added to the fire ... time to get the wheels spinning.

Now, one thing is for certain, if Jesus was being literal (which I believe He was) when he said in the gospel of Matthew, "Judge not, that you be not judged" then we have some serious thinking to do on the subject of judging. But, we also need to expound this judgement on a higher level other than "judging others" because people automatically assume the worst of people when they hear the word "judgement" or "judge" in the Christian realm. The Bible speaks of discernment, it speaks of those who are deceitful, and it also speaks of preserving the TRUE Gospel, all of which imply a sort of judgement that will need to take place in order to "judge what is right." On that note, Jesus also spoke of judging what is right (Luke 12:57). Jesus seems to be pointing out the polarization's of following Him and following the law. Jesus was a true radical of his day, just about everything he said went against the grain of his day ... and people followed Him. If people, from a time period that was riddled with a religiously charged atmosphere of judicial laws and stipulations-despite all of this being upheld under the rule of the Roman authorities- then I am honestly struggling to understand why, in our predominantly "Christian"(or what others perceive as such) society, we can not understand, or seek to understand, what Jesus was saying? Much less, the apostle Paul or any of the other apostles. The point of interest to me is that while we are commanded "to judge not, that you may not be judged" Jesus goes on to ask: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teach, but everyone when he is full trained will be LIKE his teacher"- Luke 6:39-40

The interesting thing about Jesus is that he never condemned anyone but he judged people all the time! We are told also "You therefore must be perfect, as your father is perfect."... do I even need to mention the whole bit about trees bearing fruit?

So, in light of societies ( both christian and non-christian) view of judging, how do we find harmony with that definition in light of discernment? How do we eliminate the atmosphere of "judging" in order to "do what is right" if we are told to "judge what is right?" I am calling for a reevaluation of this concept so that we can move past this "religiously charged atmosphere" (which is finding a striking contrast to that on the first century) in order to love one another, confront sin, rebuke when needed, refute error, call people to repentance, be Christ-like .... all the while maintaining love, and compassion, and grace? (assuming the attitude of society, not Jesus) My answer to this? Rather, Jesus' answer to this? Forgetting that any of these things are ever not to be done as acts of love. Does that mean that they will always be done in love? Absolutely not ... but do not let your societal impression block you from seeing the truth, and love, and grace in these things! I understand that given the impression of society, half of which fall victim to what Jesus addresses in Luke 7:24(cited below), which even those who display these acts of love have to fight past in order to do it for the betterment of all, we may find this very very hard. But, nevertheless, Christ exemplified these things for us and His teachings have been given to us ... if we would just spend time with Him, instead of letting the world mold our impressions of such virtues. I am contending that there is a significant portion of society that really doesn't struggle with believing in God ... its finding Christ in this "christian" atmosphere that is also polluted with "religiosity and judiciary obligations" ... that in itself is another topic. I implore you to ask yourselves ... what is it to judge? what is love? what is grace? what is compassion? And ultimately, how are they different? 

"Do not judge by appearance, but judge with right judgement"-Luke 7:24