“Be curious; not judgmental” – Brad Jersak

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“Be curious; not judgmental.”
Walt Whitman

“Judge not, so that you will not be judged.”
Jesus of Nazareth

Don’t be judgmental:

When you read Jesus’ straightforward statement, “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged,” what is your immediate response? Some readers may feel a sense of great relief—“You mean I’m relieved of that exhausting responsibility? Thank God!” Others may feel defensive—“But so many people are floundering in their folly, and they need me to correct them!” Still others may feel ashamed, recognizing how judgmental they have been and wondering how to live differently. And a fourth reader quickly recalls the other Scriptures where we’re indeed called to make wise judgments. They realize that Jesus’ initial statement needs further nuancing. So how shall we approach Jesus’ words? Let’s begin with the slightly broader context. Jesus says in Matthew 7:

  • “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.”

In that context, I’d suggest that Whitman’s statement is a helpful interpretation of Jesus’ specific intent: “Don’t be judgmental.” In other words, Jesus is addressing an attitude and habit that we refer to as being a busybody. Someone who continually notices and points out their neighbor’s faults—they are nosy, intrusive, given to gossip, and full of pride. Judgmental people look down their nose at others, consider themselves superior, and as Jesus points out, are prone to horrendous blindspots in their own lives. In fact, he even calls them hypocrites because the very thing they judge may be a projection of the same issue in themselves (but even worse!).

I wonder… as you read the last paragraph, who came to mind? If it was anyone other than you, then Jesus successfully cornered us. “See! You’re doing it right now!” Busted! Blindsided by my own judgmental attitude! Well, better to just confess it quickly (“Yup! That’s me! Sorry, Lord!”) and allow Jesus’ words to liberate us once again.

Actually, I’m especially motivated by Jesus’ second statement—the kind heads-up that the weight of judgment I apply will be the weight of judgment. In other words, I will experience harsh judgment when I condemn harshly. When I judge gently, I will experience a gentle correction. I don’t consider this a threat that God will come at me with a sledgehammer. Instead, it’s more likely a proverbial description of how life will be and how others will respond to us when we offer our input.

In fact, Jesus does invite us to ‘judge’ after the beam is removed from our eye… possibly because instead of being judgmental, now we’ll be paying forward the same mercy and healing that we’ve received.

Judge Well

Once we’ve clarified and fully embraced Jesus’ warning to rid ourselves of the toxic habits of judgmentalism (I say -ism because it is an idol), we can proceed to the healthy judgments he calls for. These came to mind quite quickly. I’ll mention just four briefly:

  1. The Conscience: As Paul understood it, the conscience is a God-given gift to all people that guides us from within to judge right from wrong. It’s like an inner prophet calling us to judge right from wrong. According to Romans 2, the healthy conscience is like God’s moral compass, personalized in each of us. The human conscience can also be immature, sick, weak, harsh, etc. It can try to dethrone the Holy Spirit and dominate others, or we may ignore it so long that it goes offline. But once we grasp the gospel of God’s grace, the conscience will begin leading us to the Tree of Life (Jesus) instead of the Tree of Judgment. Said another way, the healthy conscience calls us out of slavery back to the Father’s house.
  2. Discernment: Discernment is another form of healthy judgment. Yes, this can include discerning right from wrong, but it also extends to making good decisions and following the best path. In this case, we’re learning to heed the healthy conscience, but more than that, we are also discovering what Jesus meant when he promised to give us the Holy Spirit as a ‘counselor and guide.’ Discernment means attending to the wisdom of the Spirit, speaking from our innermost being and through those trusted friends who listen along with us.
  3. Diagnosis: A third form of healthy judgment is diagnosis. When I go to a doctor or a therapist, they listen carefully to (1) the symptoms or troubles I describe, (2) the research and education they’ve worked through concerning those issues, and (3) the years of clinical experience that have formed their expertise. They then offer a three-fold judgment—a diagnosis, a prognosis, and a course of treatment. Jesus is rightly called the Great Physician and the Wonderful Counselor. ALL his judgments are for our healing and restoration, even if the course of treatment is daunting because his agenda is always for us to be made whole.
  4. Resistance: Finally, and most prone to peril, are those times when judgment is required that calls us to see and then resist evil and injustice in this world. I say it’s perilous because this judgment is precisely where we’re most likely to become the monster we sought to slay, where pride is most likely to blind us, where mercy often gets lost, and where we presume to take the judgment seat. And yet where evil and injustice persist, our silence and inaction can become complicity.

    How shall we then live? As Jesus said, “First, check your own eyes first. Thoroughly. With help.” Second, when you are clear on that, Paul restricts our involvement to “overcoming evil with good.” Full stop. No exceptions. The rest, as they say, are details. They also say, “The devil is in the details,” so I believe that “resisting evil with good” (Jesus’ words) will require group discernment committed to prayer, to love, and to the Jesus Way of peace.

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