Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Judge Not

Wow, not even 24 hours after my first post and I already have something new to say. To be fair, they were both stewing in my mind, I simply didn't want my first post to be THAT long :)

Why does the world hate Christians? I'm sure there are several reasons, but the first thing to come to my mind is judgmental. And it's a valid concern. I certainly don't want some hypocritically self-righteous snob telling me that he's better than I am,
so why should anybody else? Since I'm one of those "golden-rulers", I've resolved not to judge people. Which is why I was quite taken aback the other day when a dear friend looked me in the eye and said quietly "You're always judging me." The hurt I had unknowingly caused my friend was ringing in my ears well after they left. I was thinking back through my experiences with this friend, good and bad, trying to think when I had judged them. Now let's set the record straight, although I don't always approve of the way my friend lives their life, I love my friend to death. But while trying to think when I had judged my friend, the question inevitably arose.

What exactly is judgement?

If I notice something wrong with a friend, do I simply ignore it for fear of "judging them?" That can't be right. If you were to walk up to me with an arrow sticking out of your thigh, I wouldn't say "Hey man how's it going?" My greeting would probably be more along the lines of "OH MY GOSH YOU HAVE AN ARROW IN YOUR LEG!!" So I don't think it's sinful to notice someone's character flaws. A spade is a spade after all. If I know a friend of mine is a recovering alcoholic, should I offer him a beer? Of course not. But isn't that judgemental of me to acknowledge his former addiction? Maybe so, but it would be foolish not to.

So then we still don't know what qualifies as judgement, do we? I would say that judgement is when I notice someone's flaws and think worse of them for it. Referring back to my friend, I've told them that I don't approve of some of their choices. I think that's what a friend should do. But after I've pointed out as humbly as I can that what I think they are doing is wrong and why, I stand beside them in love and sincerely hope that things go well with them. Because I don't care about being right. I care about them.

6 comments:

  1. Great post Justin! Good to see ya blogging. I look forward to reading many more. I hope it is very helpful to you to get your thoughts down.

    J-ME

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  2. WOW - I dig your definition of being judgemental and I get it. Something I will use in my daily coming and going.

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  3. Unfortunately, not everyone uses the same definition as I do... Thus the inspiration for this post :/

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  4. I think this is a great post and you bring up a great question "What exactly is judging?" We know that the bible tells us "Not to judge one another" and "Remove the plank out of your own eye before removing the speck out of your brothers eye" (Matt 7:1-5). I think it depends on who you are talking to. If we are talking to someone who does not know God or has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior then I think we are not to judge them if they are going to be saved in the end times. We can NOT judge them on their actions because they do not know better because they are living in the dark (John 12:35). If we try to point out the things they are doing wrong in Gods eyes then it will make us look like we are "More Holier than Thou" attitude and we dont want to do that if we are to ever lead them to Christ. If it is your Brother in Christ and they are humble enough to accept rebuking (pointing something our they are doing wrong) thenyou must first make sure you are not doing the same thing then only can you go up to them and scripturally point out what they are doing is wrong. So I guess my advice would be, live your life by example for your friends and show them by your example and continue to talk about the "Good News of Jesus Christ."

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  5. The only good way to approach someone in a respectful manner i think would be: Hey man, you probably should stop doing that. Its more of a suggestion than anything else.

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