Friday, October 12, 2012
Jesus had something very simple and profound to say about all this. He said, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged" (Matthew 7:1). The Message translates his statement this way: Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults - unless, of course, you want the same treatment.
What is so bad about judging? I believe there are several answers to that question. We never know all the facts. We cannot read another persons motive. We are naturally prejudiced people, we are never completely objective. But most importantly, we put ourselves into a position that we are not qualified to fill - namely, we play God.
The word for "judge" in Greek is krino, which really means to separate. The command from Christ is not to separate people based on external labels. Jesus is not commanding us to not be discerning. In this same passage, he tells us that we can know false prophets by their fruit ( Matthew 7:15-19). In 1 John 4:1 we are admonished to "test the spirits to see if they are from God." So we can judge fruit but we can never judge motive. When we judge people we separate them, we censor them, in such a way that we cannot love them. Judging others cultivates a bitter and condemning spirit in me.
This is one of those commands from Jesus that we have to be constantly praying about, submitting our judgmental wills to His will. Obedience is paramount. Will you pray and obey?
We can't love others like Christ if we keep putting labels on people.
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