Judge & Jury

Judging others is my besetting sin. I mean it. If I put all of the pieces of paper that have my confessions about judging others, I could start a bonfire. You'd think after all this time, after all these prayers, I'd be on the other side of this one.

So here's what I know: there's a fraction of a second in which it can go either way.

I look at someone or something and I can either embrace what I see and say to myself, "this is a manifestation of God's work under the power of fear, shame, anger, hate, despair, disappointment, weakness, or simply unloved." Or, I can make the easier choice and mock their clothes, their behaviors, their speech, etc. It happens in a snap.

Sometimes, I see these judgments as my way of making myself feel better, stronger, or smarter. You know the refrain, "I would never do that!" or "Did she even look in the mirror this morning?" or even more catty, "Hmmm, he looked in the mirror this morning and said, 'Man I look good!'"

My little secret jokes are sin. My little catty remarks are judgments. And there is a scripture for it: "DO NOT judge and criticize and condemn others, so that you may not be judged and criticized and condemned yourselves." [Matthew 7:1; Amplified] It's not one to be taken lightly.

So, what is the solution? How do I break this habit before this habit breaks me?

Pastor Jess made some strong suggestions that are niggling at my heart, like Bob Pierce's [founder of World Vision & Samaritan's Purse] quote "let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God," and "when we jump into the pain, that's when people can see Jesus in us."

I think my judgments are caused because I insist on staying outside. Judgments are easy when I am not engaged with the subject, when I don't know what they had for breakfast or who smacked them in the head that morning or who stole their most precious things last night or who raped who or who lost everything in a fire or who got fired or laid off or just stepped out of jail.

When I don't know that person, I can make all kinds of snap decisions about them.

There is an old Brian Doerksen song that I always love to sing. The words start with, "I want to know you, Lord I must know you ..." But now I understand, to know God, I must know the other. And as I step out in faith to know, then I will learn to love, and better still, maybe, just maybe, that person will see Jesus in me.

Irmgarde Brown
Blogger, Writer, Librarian,
Follower of Christ, Woeful
Facebook: irm.brown
Twitter: IrmBrown

Restore Church :: 616 Ontario St., Havre de Grace :: Sundays at 9, 10:15 & 11:30 a.m. 

Don’t you wish every church rocked? Let’s face it. Many people don’t like church. There are many reasons. All of them are pretty valid: hypocritical, out of touch, cultish, driven by guilt, and judgmental. When the Bible talks about church, are these the descriptions that God had in mind? We don’t like church either ... at least, not these types of church. We need help. We need the love of Jesus to be more real than these descriptions. We need the church to be different. We can change if we can agree on what NOT to be ... we can change if we value God’s dream for the church. Join us as we start 2012 with a six-week sermon series on changing the definition of church, together!