Matthew 7 (New International Version)
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you"What if we oversimplify this warning from God? I think that I've been oversimplifying it my entire life, telling myself that I'm doing what I've been asked to do just because I don't mentally convict people and tell them that they're 'hell-bound.' But this morning, I felt like I received a more full understanding of this command.
In reading Ezekiel 22, I came to understand that when we 'judge' a person or a people, then we've already resigned from any obligation in dealing with them. We've already made up our minds about their fate.
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her detestable practices 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols, 4 you have become guilty because of the blood you have shed and have become defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil. ... 30 “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. 31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
It is impossible to be neutral. Even a conscientious decision to 'stay out of something' or to not become involved was still a decision you acted upon. Are we cutting people off from God's love when we choose to do nothing? I think that's what we're being told here.
Is God still looking for those who will stand in the gap on behalf of those we know and should love with His own unconditional love -- love with out judgement? I think He is.
I have to agree with you; even neutrality (or apathy) is a choice we make. Over the past few years I've wondered how to balance the many issues we face every day and how to avoid being overwhelmed.
ReplyDeleteThe flip side of that coin, I guess, is if we become too opinionated in issues we don't fully understand. Either is very dangerous.
I've met so many people in the few years since I've moved to Austin. I'm surprised to discover how much I have in common with my closest friends out here who differ so much from me in religious and political beliefs. I think most of us want the same things out of life and believe in the same things, we just disagree on how to get there.
Definitely, Mike, I agree with you about becoming opinionated about things we don't understand; and like you, just about everyone I know wants to find peace and love and has a basic desire to be good to others and find the same in return -- there are so many 'paths' out there that promise those end results. I find myself at a place in my life right now where I'm struggling with figuring out exactly what I should be doing.
DeleteJesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." But even among those who profess that they follow Jesus, there is so much dissension about how people make achieve eternal life with God.
And this is a huge, huge issue in my 'walk' right now -- it's hard to put it into words, but it feels like it goes all the way down to the molecular level of every precept I've received. To try to simplify it a little: Do I try my best to let God's love flow through me to everyone I meet and pray for them -- and is that alone 'standing in the gap'? Or, should I 'love my neighbor as myself' in the truest sense, holding them in the same regard I hold my own life, and start screaming from the rooftops that there is only one way to God, caring only for the eternal salvation of their souls but at the risk of alienating those who have different beliefs? Some people would certainly call the latter being opinionated and judgmental.
See, I like when people decide to think deeply and ask themselves the hard questions. I've been asking myself the same thing over the past few years and I don't really have an answer yet!
DeleteI remember reading about a saint who once said that we have to preach the good news to every person we meet...and sometimes we have to open our mouths to do it. I think this is good advice...live a certain way and people will learn something from you whether you speak about it or not.
Maybe, and I'm just pondering here, but maybe there IS only one path to God, but different modes of traveling along that path? Like a highway, you could drive a car, truck, bus, bicycle, motorcycle or even walk.
Maybe part of the problem is in the limitations of our words and the ability of our minds to comprehend concepts larger than we are.
I love the quote you posted from the Saint -- that's pure awesomeness! Do you recall which Saint?
DeleteYou know, God rarely screams at us in this day and time. To hear from Him you have to be quiet and when you do hear from Him (at least in my experience) it's such a small, yet significantly profound whisper. Yesterday, I heard that little small voice come into my head and ask me, "Who has affected your walk the most?"
One person popped into my mind at that moment. And she's not a 'scream-from-the-rooftops' kind of person. She simply walks the walk, boldly but not overbearingly.
Immediately after that, my thoughts turned to the same thing that I think you're saying above about the different modes of transportation. In your original comment, I think I made the wrong assumption about what you were talking about when you said that, "I think most of us want the same things out of life and believe in the same things, we just disagree on how to get there." I've seen so much religious and spiritual propaganda lately that mixes eastern beliefs with some gnostic beliefs and then they still claim that the higher power they speak of is the same god as the God of the Bible and I think I automatically tinted your comment with that thought.
But I totally see what you're saying now!
My friend, Ginger, had this response that she shared with me via Facebook. I wanted to repost it here to keep the dialog going. The discussion aspect of this blog is very important to me.
ReplyDelete=============================================================
Ginger Sullivan-Chang
So I tried to add to your blog...I am computer and blog illiterate...ok, lazy too. So here is my addition to your blog via message...
It is only natural to judge. We are born to have preferences and prejudices. It is the manner in which we "judge" that is important. What is Christianity? Turning the other cheek? Accepting others no matter what to show God's love? Charity? Doing unto others?
Show love to those who need it most. Show your preference by being there for others and supporting them when their decisions are not the same as ours. Remember the story of Christ and casting the first stone? I don't think it was about judging her for being a prostitute (either through choice or force), I think it was more about the punishment that was applied to the offence. We show Christ and God's love through the manner in which we treat others. Let those without sin cast the first stone. We have all made decisions that weren't "right." We also have friends that stand by us, and will tell us we are wrong, but it is through love that they do it.
Once you make your stance clear, it is then through love and patience that you share your beliefs. Remember that children hate to be told what to do, but if you have patience and love and acceptance, even children will come around.
Take it from someone that was brought up in a Baptist Church and married a Catholic, that I do not see a time that the two ideologies will ever meet. For most, it is all in the interpretation. I think that if we stick to the words in red we should be ok.
I wonder if sometimes we are at a disadvantage in understanding the Bible because of the inability to translate certain words accurately? You're right, Ginger, Jesus told us to make judgments about people just a few verses later in Matthew: 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
DeleteAnd we're also told to sanctify ourselves -- or set ourselves apart from the world. So that is a type of judgment but I think it's different from a 'convicting' judgement and I wonder if because we only have the one word in English that we use in both scenarios -- do people become confused about what is really being said?
I hear that one verse thrown around a lot -- and very often by non-Christians: 'judge not lest ye be judged!'
I do think we're supposed to make an assessment of people for several reasons like the ones noted above ... but should we also be willing to make an assessment of people in order to 'target' them? To look at the fruit that our friends and neighbors bear and try to determine whether or not they are grafted to the Vine and if not -- to try to reach them, actively, with God's love by confronting them? Or should we just pray for them? How do we really stand in the gap for others?
I know that if we were talking about my own child, I would confront him day and night until I broke through. Shouldn't I do the same for my neighbor or friend? Shouldn't I desire salvation for them just as much as for my own son? Always supporting them, like you said, and being there for them just like a parent would, but never giving up and hence 'casting a judgment' upon them?
Or is that going too far? And if so, is it going to far simply because they believe differently than I do?
Ginger's reply 5/8/12:
DeleteHere is my response to good trees bearing bad fruit...
Many times, it seems the parables are taken far too literally. Is it possible for good trees to bear bad fruit and vice-versa. People constantly say that the "fruit doesn't fall far from the tree." I have seen cases where the offspring does not a chance in this world if they are reared by the parents that brought them into this world. However, remove them and place them with a loving and caring home, show true discipline and love, would they not be able to change and grow into a responsible, loving, and caring person?
Take a look at the historical perspective of religion. The major world religions all have the same basic standards. Muslims and Christians and Jews all claim Abraham as the father of their faith. Two blood lines originating through Abraham. How did the world become Christian? Were we born that way? What about all the people in the pre-Christian era? What about the people whose culture never included Christianity and were only introduced to it through European conquest. Are we to believe that all the native peoples of the America's were heathens going to Hell because they weren't Christian. What about the ancient Greeks and Romans -ok, the Romans are exceptions, b/c they would take everyone's religion and incorporate it into their own. Keep the masses happy by adding a few gods to the pantheon. My long, drawn out rant, narrows down to this...God presents himself in many forms. Who are we to determine if their vision of God and Heavan, Nirvana, the afterlife, is not as valid as the Christian's belief?
Judgment is a word, as you said, with many meanings. Judgment is not necessarily negative. When we wake up the morning we judge what clothes to wear and how to brush our hair. Is salvation, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder? I am like all others. I know what I believe in my heart of hearts. God knows what I believe in my heart of hearts. Do I make bad decisions and am I a petty, jealous person? Yes,I am. Am I happy for those that receive good things? I am that, too. We are human and we are complicated creatures. We are incapable of reading the deepest, darkest secrets of others. I think we are not equipped to determine if a person is "saved." That is the work of higher beings.
Remember, Constantine converted to Christianity on his deathbed. His conversion occured after he played a major hand in solidifying the Christian faith and the Bible. It is never too late.
Ginny 5/9/12:
DeleteI'm going to go through and respond to the thoughts/ideas you've expressed in the original order (for reference, just in case this gets a little choppy and starts to lose any resemblance to coherent thought).
On the parable of the fruit and the tree, I'm sorry if I made it sound like I interpreted that to be the parent/child relationship. I've never actually heard it taught that way and would've definitely had the same thoughts you expressed if I did. Actually, Jesus was talking to a specific audience at that time about a specific set of people (false prophets and teachers). And I did kind of broaden my interpretation of his intended message there by applying it to people in general. The way I've always been taught that parable (and the other fruit/tree parables that Jesus taught) is that the 'fruit' refers to what you produce -- do you produce love, patience, kindness, generosity, and the other 'good fruits' that should allow people to see God in you? (i.e. being 'grafted' to "The Vine.")
Historical perspective of religion -- this is where I'm going to get us off track, totally. I disagree that the major world religions share a common god. I'm going to totally oversimplify my thought process with this analogy, but to compare the god of the Mohammed with the God of Abraham and say that they are the same god would be the same as to compare Bram Stoker's Dracula to Vlad the Impaler and say they are the same person. According to the Bible, God has only three forms: father, son and holy spirit. The Bible also states that God is never changing and in the Bible it is recorded that Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” If you take the Bible at it's word, there is no room left for us to try to allow for the validation of other "ways" to God. So what it really comes down to is, do you believe the Bible?
I've asked several pastors about pre-Christian civilizations and how a "just" God could condemn a people who have never heard the gospel -- never heard of Jesus or the God of Abraham. I've gotten several explanations that range from stories (documented, I'm told) of how remote tribes of people indigenous to lands where Christianity and Judaism have never reached have had an 'encounter' with God and came to believe and understand that way -- all the way to "God already knows these people and if no one was ever sent to them to reveal Him, then it is because their hearts have already been hardened and they would reject the message anyway." (The premise being that God is omniscient and ever present and sees the end at the same time as the beginning.)
(cont'd)
DeleteJudgment: I totally agree with what you're saying and I think that we're both saying almost the same thing. I think I'm just wanting to broaden my own understanding of what it means to 'judge' someone. Jesus taught the disciples that their old understandings of the 10 commandments were too limited in scope. He told them that murder doesn't mean just to kill someone's physical being, but that if you 'hate' a man, you're also guilty of murder. In other words, if you 'hate' someone -- you've given up on them in the sense of showing them God's unconditional love. And if you were the only way that they were ever going to experience that love, and by that love gain salvation -- then in effect you have just sentenced them to eternal death. A "judgment," if you will. You are guilty of the murder of that person because you cut them off from God. Wow.
No, I would never presume to put myself on the same level with God by thinking that I can "judge" them -- but I mean this in the sense that it's not up to me to ever stop letting God's unconditional love flow through me. I do, however, feel properly equipped to make an assessment of whether or not someone may need to hear the "truth" based upon either their actions or their words -- their "fruits."
And I agree that it's never too late for someone to become saved. Never. We are not saved by works but as a gift of God's grace. So no matter how we lived our lives or what terrible things we did. No matter how unfair our limited human judgment/perception tells us it is -- if someone lets God into their heart with only their final breath, then by God's law, I understand that to be more than sufficient.
Ginger's response 5/9/10:
DeleteJust out of curiousity, what are the denominations of the pastors you have spoken with. I would guess that each pastor was taught in their particular denominational seminary. And this is a question that I truly don't know the answer to (and have never truly looked up) but in what chapter and verse does it state that God is a trinity? I have always been confused as to why the literal interpretation of God, as the father, Jesus, as the son, and the Holy Spirit, a tool used by God to either bless or condemn us is not just that, three different entities. Does it expressly state in the Bible that God is a trinity? I have heard the Catholic interpretation that God is the father and Jesus is God as well because his father was God. This makes no sense to me. And when I express that this makes no sense, I am told that is the mystery of faith.
Maybe I take things too literally. I misunderstood your fruit analogy. It just hit me, duh...Albert's neice has a poster that lists the "fruits of the spirit"...love, patience, kindness, and all the rest.
As to your pastors comments regarding contact with God. What about prehistoric people...not cavemen...but pre-written history? How would we know? I am not saying that there has been anything implied or even written about these ancient people but how would we know if God had made contact? Or, is what the pastor is implying, that we really shouldn't think about it because if it happened, it happened and if not, oh well?
What do you know about the God of Islam that is different from the Judeo-Christian God? What makes the two different? Are you disagreeing on the basis of the Koran v. the Bible or have you studied Islam? I am not trying to be funny...I want to know what the differences are and what the source of the difference is. Are you basing the differences on the ideology of the texts or the ideology of the people who follow that particular faith. There are zeolots in all religions.
Here is my final thought, just as you stated, we are saved by God's grace, not by works or deeds.
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Who are you trying to help?
Ginny's response 5/9/12:
DeleteWhew! There's a lot in there ... I'm going to address each point to the best of my ability ... tomorrow, after I recharge my brain. And I'll be eagerly waiting your response because as you raise questions and issues with my statements, I'm forced to define some of the vagueness that floats around in my brain.
As far as who I'm trying to help -- I guess the answer to that isn't that simple. When I get to heaven I want to make sure I hear "Well done my good and faithful servant." I want to make sure that I'm doing what I should be doing and that I don't do anything that jeopardizes anyone else in any way. There are a lot of people out there who are pastoring others and some seem to focus on making a better life for the believer while others seem to focus on evangelism. A lot of my questing is coming from trying to figure out where my focus should really be.
And if you're asking who I'm trying to help with the blog -- me and anyone else who feels like they can benefit from discussion.
It all sounds a little selfish, doesn't it? I'll sleep on it -- TTFN.
Love you muches!
Ginger's response 5/9/12:
DeleteThis has actually been enjoyable and thought provoking. I am always open to learn but as you can tell, I guess I want proof. I know that not everything can be proven with scientific fact, but at least some basis of the belief would be good. I wasn't sure if someone was giving you a hard time or if I have to come to South Louisiana and soap box with you.
Get some rest and as I said, attach an outline and I will try not to ramble next time.
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