Judgments

Luke 6:37-42

³⁷“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; ³⁸give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” ³⁹He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. ⁴¹Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴²How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

And thus we come to the most quoted of Bible passages today. “Do not judge and you will not be judged.” Sadly, it is not oft quoted by Christians but by non- Christians as a derogatory remark made about those who embrace Christianity. It’s a mess.

But here the words are and as Christians, we have to deal with them. When standing in judgment over another, there really isn’t much room for grace. We worship of God of grace and mercy, so when showing nothing but judgment, we do not represent God very well. Since His character is that of mercy, perhaps we might show a little more mercy ourselves. With that said, we also have to realize that we are forced to make judgments all day long. Who will I vote for? Your answer will be based on judgments. Who will I spend my time with? Your answer will be based on judgments. How will I raise my children? Your answer will be based on judgments. So – how do we make our way through this quagmire?

As I ponder this conundrum I first have to look to the Lord who chooses mercy even though I am deserving of nothing more than condemnation. His judgment of me as a sinner would be correct. But instead of seeing only my sin, He has chosen to see me as His blood bought child. His grace pours out over me and I am not held to a standard which I can never attain. Perhaps there is my first model for action. My first response should probably always be grace rather than judgment. The person I’m with needs to feel acceptance and love rather than snooty derision – or worse yet, indifference. Perhaps then the door of communication can remain open.

Second, I look to the Lord who is always generous with me. If I am receiving such generosity, perhaps I could spare some for my neighbor. And I’m not talking about monetary generosity here. I’m talking about generously reaching out to them with love and care rather than staunch judgment.

Finally, perhaps I embrace righteousness rather than rightness. There’s a difference. Righteousness is only won through the blood of Jesus and not by anything that I can conjure up to do in order to earn it. Rightness is born out of my own need to always be the one with the right answer and the stubborn belief that I indeed hold that right answer. These words are born out of my own life experience for I have just described myself to a ‘T’. “Right” people are generally very self-righteous and judgmental. And all of the fingers are pointing my way here. I speak from my own sense of conviction here.

God is not interested in my attempts to right the world. He is only interested in my willingness to embrace His loving forgiveness, mercy, and grace followed closely by my willingness to share those traits with others. I guess the day of judgment is over for now and we all await the only true Judge’s return on the clouds.