Judging Others, I think Jesus Got It Wrong

 

Lately I’ve been taking umbrage with some of the teachings of our Lord. I’d thought I’d continue my disagreements with something else the Jesus said that I totally disagree with. 

 

“Judge not, lest ye be judged. By the same manner that you judge, so shall ye be judged.”

Matthew 7:1

 

 

I’ve tried to follow this teaching throughout my life and I’m finally at a place where I say, “Jesus, I disagree. I think you got it wrong.” 

 

To be sane, and healthy people we have to make judgments. 

 

We have to make judgments between good and evil. I judge Vladimir Putin as being an evil despot causing the deaths of tens of thousands of people. I’m not going to morally stutter on this. He’s not just wrong, he’s evil! To not judge is to be wishy washy to the point of being theological Jell-O.

 

I can judge school shooters, murders, thieves, rapists as being wrong.

 

I judge men who oppress women, white people who oppress people of color, straight people who oppressive LGBTQI people – all of being wrong, dead wrong.

 

I can faithfully say, in the name of a good and loving God, as a follower of Christ, I judge these people. Again, let’s not stoop to moral stuttering. No, they’re wrong. 

 

I used to believe that not judging meant not to judge someone’s beliefs. I get that . . .to a point. I’m not going to judge a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Pagan as being wrong or misguided. We all have spiritual paths that I honor. But maybe because I call myself a Christian, I feel I can judge those within my own lodge. 

 

Honestly, I try to not judge evangelicals. Seriously I do. I work to find a common ground with them. But every time I hear of an evangelical using God to oppress woman, LGBTQI, and people of other world religions with the fear of hell and being outside of God’s love I can’t just stand by and bite my tongue. I have to stand on my toes and shout, “They’re wrong! They have it wrong! NO, NO, NO! Don’t believe them! I judge them!

 

Of course, I know they say the same about me. We’re kind of like the married couple, one democrat, the other republican, who cancel each other’s vote at the ballot. We’re both judging the other on who and how God loves and judges. Sometimes I think God cancels us both out and moves on to another faith dimension. So really Steve, just shut up. Quit judging.  

 

Let’s turn to Jesus himself, he wasn’t afraid to judge. Let’s remember he blasted the Scribes, the Pharisees, and the religious leaders. He didn’t blink in his judgment. He called them names, he ridiculed them. He told people they were wrong, and they shouldn’t listen to them or follow them. 

 

When Jesus was in the temple, he judged the money changes.  He knocked over tables, made a whip and drove them out.  

 

It seems even the Master had a hard time living up to his own standards.

 

So, what do we do? How do we follow Jesus and still find the ethical and moral way to judge. 

 

I come back to the verses that immediately follow Jesus’s teaching on judgment. It’s the teaching where Jesus says first take the log out of your own eye before you take the speck out of someone else’s eye. 

 

This is the key for me. It means to be self-reflective. I have to remember that I have my own faults, inconsistencies, broken places, hypocrisies – in short – I’m a sinful person. Every day I spend time reflecting on my faults. I confess my sin, I seek forgiveness. I constantly evaluate who I am and how I live. I work to get my ethics off of cruise control and integrate them into my life. I work to ensure my moral compass is pointing north. I work to take the log out of my own eye. 

 

I do this work because other people don’t just have specks in their eye, they have a log, and sometimes a log jam damming their sight. It’s my job, our job, sometimes people who inhabit the  globe’s job, to point it out, and work to get out the debris of our neighbor’s eye. 

 

Nobody ever said following the teachings of Jesus was going to be easy. There are often a thousand shades of gray and we’re all called to walk our talk and love our brothers and sisters – even the Vladimir Putin’s of the world. 

 

So, once again, I disagree with the master, but I also don’t take the Bible literally. I always say you have to live, read, and interpret his words. But who am I . . .

 

Judge for yourself. 

 

Steve