All too often in today's society, Christians are trying to be as accepting and loving of all people as possible. While to an extent this is good, the idea of judgemental Christians is becoming so unacceptable that even Christians are trying to steer clear of the idea completely. And this, I think, is bad. Christians are supposed to be able to see the downfalls of each other and come to the rescue, to help one another get over our difficult sins. This means, on occasion, judging one another when we are committing sins without realizing they are sinful. I pulled the following quotes together from the NIV, and added some personal commentary, to explain my position:
Quote:
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. - Romans 2:1
Means that if we make a judgement against someone for something, we'll be judged by the same set of criteria. Another favorite:
Quote:
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. - Luke 6:37
Is one that is quoted all too often (you may have heard it as "judge not, lest ye be judged," but that's King James Version).
But at the same time, when you look at things like Paul's letters to the churches, he comes out and tells them when they're doing wrong. Jesus, when he sent out the groups of apostles, commanded them:
Quote:
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. - Matthew 10:14-15
And, immediately after the do not judge remark, the following:
Quote:
How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. - Luke 6:42
He's not saying "don't take the speck out of your brother's eye" - but instead, that you do so only after you make sure you don't have one yourself.
What I'm getting at is this: We have to correct our fellow Christians when we see that they are doing wrong, but we must know that we are sinners as well, and that we could be wrong in what we're telling them. We must be certain there is no sin present in our decision before we offer correction. Further:
Quote:
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. - Romans 14:1
Basically, if there is any room for interpretation, it's something that we shouldn't be making a judgement on.
Sphere: Related Content
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
And let's not forget that those who scream "You're judging me!" are themselves making a judgment on YOU. You have to ask them to clarify - are you judging ME or are you judging my ACTION? If my action, why can't I do the same for you?
A few, yet more relevant, Bible passages:
1 Corinthians 5
2 Thessalonians 3:6 and 14
Matthew 18
ALAN
Although this was posted a few years ago the problems of judging still exist. My question is this.
I work with someone who is extremely judgemental. She constantly is bashing, bad mouthing and back stabbing people and co-workers. It's gotten so bad that these co-workers feel that they're being harrassed and I don't blame them. I confronted her at one time and told her to stop being so judgemental. She became more bitter and towards me too. I don't hate her and I pray daily for her. Yet, I'm really getting frustrated with her comments. Supervisors know this and do nothing.
Any suggestions?
Wow, this is quite old. Thanks for reading that far back, though.
Unfortunately, I may not be able to offer any sound advice. I have dealt with this issue from a managerial capacity and have fallen flat on my face, which doesn't bode well for any answer I may provide.
Perhaps it's not something you can overcome. The problem of being judgmental may be a problem of competing values. Some people (and you appear to be one of them, based on your post) value openness and understanding above rushing to judgment. Some people do not hold those values. If the value theory holds true, then trying to convince someone that they're being judgmental is the same as trying to convince someone that abortion is wrong or that homosexuality is wrong. Certainly we can point out Bible verses all day long that express these ideas clearly, but what if someone doesn't value our Bible verses, or what if that person doesn't believe in the infallibility of those verses? Our argument becomes completely moot.
What we can do, though, when faced with a conflict of values is to find a common ground on values. Perhaps your coworker believes in being judgmental, but doesn't really want to offend anyone. If you can connect with her on that level, then you can more easily direct her to see how being judgmental can cause offense. You're no longer questioning her value of being judgmental, but rather offering her a competing value that she may be willing to place in higher regard, and thus she chooses for herself to throw away the lesser one. This could backfire, though, if she decides that causing offense is the lesser one.
Oh, I also wanted to point out that any time we say our value is right and someone else's is wrong, we're making a value judgment - which becomes rather ironic when our value judgment is one of being non-judgmental!
Post a Comment