Christian Judgment
Noah Webster, one of our founding fathers knew the Bible better than perhaps any other of the founding fathers and employed it to author the first American dictionary. Here is how Webster defines judging and since the topic of judgment is so tied to reputation, I included the definition of ‘reputation’ from that Dictionary
- JUDG’ING, ppr. Hearing and determining; forming an opinion; dooming.
- REPUTA’TION, n. [L. reputatio.] 1. Good name; the credit, honor or character which is derived from a favorable public opinion or esteem. Reputation is a valuable species of property or right, which should never be violated. With the loss of reputation, a man and especially a woman, loses most of the enjoyments of life. The best evidence of reputation is a man’s whole life. 2. Character by report; in a good or bad sense; as, a man has the reputation of being rich or poor, or of being a thief.
In my understanding of judgment’s use according to the scriptures, we are called to be discerning of good and evil, right and wrong, as well as good, better, and best. Focusing on levels of wrong are not emphasized so far as I have observed. In fact, we are called to meditate on whatever is good, profitable, nice, beautiful, etc., One of the most overexposed and least regarded scriptures outside of the Christian community is Jesus’ command to hate the sin, not the sinner. Inside the Christian community, this commandment is paramount. Given the dual use of the term’ judging’ we can see a misrepresentation of the intended use. When a Christian is judged for judging, the term ‘judged’ to the secularist means condemned while the Christian’s practice in judging is hearing and determining, forming an opinion. Given that there are indeed consequences to the opinions formed, the secularist may feel condemned whether they are or not in reality. What is ‘felt’ is not relevant in the sense of intent, but is relevant in the acceptance or rejection of such judgment/opinions. So, while the Christian is exercising their God given responsibility to use their judgment the recipients of those opinions are offended or often experience real consequence through the social structures formed about them. In reality, the Christian opinion is far more often than not the most benevolent of natural opinions formed by the general population in intimate social structure. A secularist will be far harder on one for whom they have a sense of repulsion. If a Christian rejects a worldview or behavior or suggestion, they are not directed by the scriptures to condemn the person involved in the behavior or who has made the suggestion or subscribed to the worldview. Christians are in fact commanded to love that person, even if that person is an actual enemy. (love does not mean approval) It is for this reason that our sub-culture has a far more peaceful internal existence than other sub-cultures. This commandment sets up an ideal to remember our own transgression against our Maker and consider His view of the ’sinner’ rather than comparing and weighing our relative guilt, using experience as the springboard for grace rather than condemnation. If we rely on the scales, often both sides claim the higher righteousness and competitions ensue creating an environment of hostility. In comparing ourselves to Jesus, we have no right to a claim of righteousness outside of His grace and so, can extend that grace to others.
From the outside looking in, it is often observed that Christians are the most judgmental of our population. There are several reasons for this.
- First, Christians aren’t born Christian. In order to become a Christian, one has to choose to be a Christian along with the requisite commitment to obedience to God’s will. Often this choice hasn’t taken place until that person has reached their 30’s and some Christians don’t become Christian until they are on their death beds. So even though they proudly wear the brand and can be well up in years, they haven’t learned the way Christ taught us to behave and since Christians are encouraged to use their judgment by the scriptures, the initiate will begin to act in ways he or she perceives other Christians do while having little to no knowledge of the instructions the Bible actually gives.
- Second, some wear the brand and never study the scriptures to employ them. If you don’t know what the Bible says, you can’t apply the teachings of Christ no matter how many Sunday meetings you sleep through. One cute little skit often performed in progressive churches has several people on stage acting like a car, a plane, etc., and stating something to the effect, “I’m in a garage so I must be a car. No. Being in a garage does not make one a car. I’m in a church, I must be a Christian. No. Being in church does not make you a Christian.”
- Third, we are called to discern who teaches and applies the scriptures accurately. Just because you know what the Bible says does not mean you choose to follow what the Bible says. There are people serving as pastors or ministers who have great knowledge of the scriptures and use that knowledge to excuse their behaviors and desires rather than submit to the will of God. All of these reflect a bad light on the Christian brand and this is why we are called by Jesus to judge by the content of the character rather than by fine clothing or hairstyle or position or anything else. So many of those hardest hit by Christian judgment are those taking advantage of the formerly good Christian brand name as we attempt to weed out what we call false Christianity and call into accountability assumptions about the Christian doctrine.
- Our society is very rich in material things historically. This wealth has spoiled our sense of what’s important and the Christian is no exception. Very few in our culture understand the immediacy or impending doom that can occur with the collapse of wealthy economies. Our faith in material wealth is strong though history teaches us that success is a fleeting and unfaithful mistress. We no longer depend on one another the way our forebears have. What this means is that we can pretend to be self sufficient and need not be concerned with the opinions others hold for our worth and friendship. Even the present day Christian can fall into this attitude and take little concern for offensive behavior and hurt feelings even if they are committed to learning and applying the scriptures as best they can.
- Finally, new guys have a lot of zeal for their new found ‘truth.’ I walked this earth for many years before I understood the benefit of living by a standard I often don’t understand, but now know to be freeing rather than constrictive. That experience of ‘getting it’ after so long trying to live in my best understanding of wisdom apart from Christ, is both exciting and saddening. Its exciting because you gain all kinds of hope for your existence verified by experience and saddening as you watch others behaving in such obviously self destructive patterns when a simple commitment and practice would save them so much heart ache. In all that ignorant zeal, the initiate knows very little about Jesus’ will but they also know very little about the prejudices against the Christian. So they go out to everybody they know or even total strangers and try to inform and convert them with this new found knowledge of all the benefits of constraining their behavior according to the scriptures. In many cases they come off as offensive. In many cases they try to insist you accept their message, especially if they are still broken enough to feel the rejection of their faith is rejection of them personally.
We are called to avoid bad behavior and in that endeavor we are supposed to judge others’ character. We carefully choose our mentors and teachers to find what God really wants of us and for us, and to protect ourselves from false teachers and leaders. It is very easy to be led up a rosy path that appeals to our base nature and ends in destruction. It is very difficult to ferret out the way of righteousness in the sight of God so we become incensed by false morality. Each one of us must be responsible for ourselves, for the choices we make and for the mentors we choose to follow and support. This includes the secular world in which we dwell. We carefully choose our friends and politicians and associations. We carefully consider whom we will grant any authority to. We carefully consider who our children will be taught by and who they hang out with. We carefully consider what studies are available and who authored them and what motives and bias they may have. Anyone with wisdom will do the same whether a believer or not.
“Is this person a Christian?” Is their Christianity worn for the supposed benefit of the brand name or because they know Christ? If this person is not a Christian, what moral code are they operating under? How committed to their own moral code are they? Is that moral code decent enough to leave my children in their charge? Would I let my newly converted friend take morality lessons from this person? These are the kinds of questions a Christian is asking themselves as they evaluate the circumstances of their environment. It isn’t any different than most parents who have the intent of raising healthy children or in anybody choosing friends and mentors; or it shouldn’t be any different. This is far from malicious condemnation. This is the requirement to live in a world where cheats and murderers thrive. A good reputation can be earned and it can be murdered. Cheats earn bad reputations and try to cover them by murdering the reputations of their neighbors. This should be motivation enough to exercise good judgment, but this generation is far more concerned with tolerance than survival.
When we are sound in our faith and understanding of your behavior patterns, our desire is to bring you into the knowledge of the goodness of God. It is not our desire to force anyone to believe as we do. That went out with the Inquisition. Nobody will be dragged to heaven kicking and screaming. Its unfortunate that some are dragged to church that way. It breeds contempt for the faith and worse, for God. God has made his reward by invitation only, meaning “You are cordially invited-” You are free to disregard the invitation. Your choice is your choice. Our only part in the process is to deliver the invitation. If that’s offensive, it can’t be helped. Our motivation is immense and due entirely to our knowledge of the consequences of not knowing Him or His ways. Real experiential knowledge of the consequences in this life and the huge difference He makes in our quality of life in the present as well as the promises He’s made for the future.
The most important part of this message is this; we are just trying to survive in a dangerous world and we are doing it with a moral standard handed down to us through the scriptures. That moral standard requires us to use judgment in a self protective way and with the intention of benefitting (as we understand the concept of beneficial) the whole of society including our enemies. Since we have held the majority in this country from its inception, this means our opinions and judgments have real political clout limiting the desires of many other subcultures built on self destructive behaviors. Our opinions do have real consequences in the lives of teachers who would be assigned to teach our children, bosses who would be assigned to exercise authority over our time and compensation, co-workers assigned to help us accomplish the tasks of our jobs, neighbors we rub shoulders with in our day to day lives, etc., but we do not set out to destroy anyone, but to bring the blessings we know through experience to a society bent on self destruction at every level. The Christian mature in their faith, will design their lives around the agenda and goal of providing an example of patient righteousness with peace and benevolence to each and every person they encounter on every occasion. Again, this does not mean accepting others’ definitions of good, but is limited to the scope of what the Bible declares good. It is a lofty goal and often goes far from accomplished. My only question to you is, “Is the failure to attain the perfect goal reason enough to abandon any attempt to reach it, and will you continue to condemn the Christian community as they endeavor to reach that goal?” When I judge you, ideally my judgment is based on a set unchanging standards which have proven their worth over and over again, most notably in the founding of this nation to provide for a society of liberty and the right to pursue happiness. That liberty requires accountability and personal responsibility.
