Dear Trekker,
The other day a friend said to me, about the action of a third party, “Why, Jim, that would be hypocritical.” My, my, did the wheels start turning with that statement!
I have a confession. For years, I have wrestled with the meaning of that incisive, direct challenge of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, “Don’t judge, or you too will be judged.” And it is amazing how some of us get wrapped around the axel over this statement. What did it mean? Do we ever exercise judgment over anyone? How do I live my life without judging?
This month the old trekker wants to pass on some guidance reference this subject. Certainly not the last word, because we all will be debating this issue ad infinitum, precisely because the admonition by the Rabbi is so difficult to carry out!
Let’s start contextually. The Jews knew what He was saying, no doubt better than we. In Hebrew culture at the time there were six commonly held disciplines that would accrue benefits in this life and rewards in the next. (William Barkley is helpful here in his Daily Study Bible.) They were: study of Scripture, care of the sick, hospitality, prayer, spiritual education of children, and thinking the best of other people. So, ‘don’t judge’ must be in the light of the admonishment to think positively of others. We do judge issues, but we are to think well (read love) of others and give them the benefit of the doubt, treating them in our thoughts and practices and prayers as we would like to be treated. We don’t judge people… ever, it seems to me.
Why is this imperative by the Rabbi so urgent and seemingly so binding? Why is ‘judging’ such a dead-end in relationships? Why is ‘judging’ so much the relational problem and rarely, if ever, the solution? Let me suggest some probable reasons:
- Since we all are sinners, we all could be judged for something, so in today’s language Jesus might say, “Cut each other a little slack.”
- Judging another at best points out the obvious, “we screwed up”, often when the ‘screwupee’ knows it better than the ‘judger’, which leads to…
- Judging doesn’t solve anything! It doesn’t move one toward a solution; it doesn’t facilitate desired change.
I love the Teddy Roosevelt quote which has a place of honor on the wall in my study: “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while doing greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.” Now that is a mouthful of trekker challenges.
But let’s not bypass the practical. We should not judge because:
- We never have all the facts. We see everything “through a glass darkly”; we see nothing in the light of total knowledge or understanding.
- If that were possible, we are so prejudicial, so myopic, we could not render an impartial judgment. And finally, as Jesus points out in this same discourse…
- We simply are not good enough ourselves to judge another! Remember that telling statement, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” ‘Shaping up’ own our bodies has far wider application that just the physical.
Well… what do we do? We neither condone nor condemn another. We offer solutions, we seek reconciliation. We forgive one another, we accept one another, and work together to solve issues and overcome the ravages of playing ‘the Pharisee game’.
In reflection, it is strange… so often in our rush to judgment (and we who call ourselves Christians are masters in this), we act as though if people only knew they were doing wrong, they would ‘shape up’ once the wrong were pointed out. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as parents with teenagers learn quickly. Our problem… we’re simply vagabonds, estranged creatures going our own way, and we don’t like to take advice. Oh we love to give it in form of judgment, ‘making our point’, and that all-time favorite, “God will judge you for that.” When I hear that, I often wonder, “why would God judge; judgment has already taken place.”
Let’s face it. Judging so often is simply getting over our own frustrations and discontentment and passing it on to another. I know I have been guilty of this, particularly in my marriage with my life-long sweetheart. We know better; why do we do it? Trekkers, it is called sin. We sin because we are sinners. We stand in judgment and we ourselves are judged.
A closing thought this month… people who have been reclaimed and redeemed by the Lifegiver desire deeply to rightly relate to one another. Let’s get on with doing just that.
A trekker needs to concentrate on scaling the heights assigned to him. We can offer encouragement, our experience, and our enthusiasm for the climb. But let’s leave the judging to the only wise, true, and righteous judge. (Discover Gen. 18:25)
Trekking with the Master,
Jim Meredith
