The Word of God: Judgmentalism

By Peter
August 31, 2010
One of our main objectives, and the Family’s future, is to broaden the circle of
our spiritual fellowship and community of faith to welcome others. We are
working to create an atmosphere that is relevant, progressive, and
contemporary, which empowers each person to reach their potential. We’re
embracing diversity in our methods and approach to fulfilling the Great
Commission. We’re encouraging personal faith and initiative. We want to
extend our friendship to all who seek to learn about the things of the spirit and
to work with us to share the Good News and to make the world a better place.
We’re aiming to nurture an inclusive culture that draws people in, that feeds
souls and infuses spirits with hope. We’re striving to remove barriers that
would distance people from our community of faith and the warmth of God’s
love and Spirit. We want to find common ground with people, to share our
spiritual riches with them, becoming “all things to all people, so that by all
possible means we might save some.”
To reach these goals, we need to place greater focus on building friendships
and relationships that invite people into the sphere of our spiritual fellowship,
so that their lives are enriched, and they can come to know and love the Lord.
Our friends should feel that they are participating in the friendship or
relationship as equals. We have spiritual truths that we can impart to them,
and they bring many other things to the table that we value and respect.
No matter who we come in contact with, whether or not they are interested in
Jesus or will ever be able to assist us or the Family’s mission in some way,
everyone deserves to feel a touch of Jesus’ love and Spirit through us. Not
just because of who they are—fellow men and women, part of the world that
God loved so much that He sent His Son to die for them—but also because of
who we are as Christians—ambassadors of God’s kingdom, Jesus’ disciples
who are meant to be known for our love.
To build lasting friendships and networks, it’s important that we identify and
change or eliminate, where necessary, aspects of our culture and
perspectives that could be perceived as unfriendly and unwelcoming, or that
could hinder people from building friendships with us, and ultimately from
growing in their relationship with Jesus.
...
Challenging mindsets
I recently read a quote that said, “We should challenge our biases as much as
possible.” It’s an interesting concept because if a certain bias or position is
right or godly, it should hold true when challenged. In light of the change
journey, it seems an appropriate time to measure some of our long-standing
opinions or perspectives with the principles of the Law of Love, and with the
words of Jesus, to see if they hold up and if they fit within the framework that
He instructed us to live by.
...
The Law of Love is our standard
... When a perspective or stance on an issue comes into question, when
deciding whether it applies or not, the New Testament is our guide and the
Law of Love is our standard for our actions and interactions with others.
Jesus, and the apostles in later writings, spoke against judgmental attitudes
and discriminatory practices. Jesus stepped outside the boundaries of Old
Testament and Judaic laws and traditions, as well as their prejudices, rules,
and exclusivity. While the Jews of His day completely avoided the Samaritans,
Jesus spent two days among them, teaching them and showing them His
love. He broke through many of the boundaries of His day by eating with
sinners and associating with tax collectors and prostitutes. His love for
humanity had no boundaries, and He reached beyond social taboos and
prejudices to love even the hated Romans, and to show that love, mercy, and
forgiveness were the greater laws.
...
Judge not
When Jesus taught us to “judge not,” it was clear that He was referring to the
wrong attitude of condemning and criticizing others. He also censured the
self-righteousness of spirit that is present when we are critical and judgmental
of others.
David often spoke against self-righteousness, which he considered to be one
of the worst sins for Christians:
A critical spirit and a harsh, condemning attitude toward others comes from
self-righteousness! But if you know you’re a mess yourself, then you don’t go
around looking down on and criticizing other people for their mistakes. But if
you think you’re so righteous, that’s when you start picking on others.
That’s one thing I’ll say for my mother, she always tried to speak well of
people. She was one of those people who cast a veil over countless sins.
(1Pet.4:8) ... So try to have a little sympathy, a little empathy with others, put
yourself in their shoes and try to think how you would feel if you were there.
Remember that scripture, “Love covereth a multitude of sins!” (1Pet.4:8) …
The drunks and the harlots, the publicans and the sinners didn’t go to the
harsh, rigid, self-righteous, unyielding, unforgiving, critical, and condemning
church leaders, who told them to be perfect or go to Hell, and laid on them
religious burdens that were more than they were able to bear. (Mt.23:4)—But
they came to Jesus, for His love and mercy, forgiveness, encouragement, and
patience!—And He treated them tenderly, kindly and forgivingly, and gave
them hope, love and strength!—Do you?
So what we all really need is more love!—And less pride! Love is humble!
Love is humility!—And humility is the absolute opposite of critical self-
righteous pride! …
Please give us love, Lord! “Above all things have fervent love one toward
another.” (1Pet.4:8) Let us not condemn in pride, let us not be as the Scribes
and the Pharisees: “I thank Thee, O God, that I am not as this man,” the
publican, the sinner. If we’re lifted up in pride and glad we’re not like the
sinner, Lord, then we’re even worse! We’re self-righteous and hypocritical!
Help us, Lord, to know that except by Thy grace we wouldn’t even be here!
We would be worse off than those we are tempted to look down upon, except
by Thy love and Thy mercy and Thy grace!
...
Showing love and tolerance for people, and respecting the fact that they were
created by God and have an inherent right to be treated with dignity doesn’t
necessarily mean that you condone their actions or embrace their beliefs. For
instance, we don’t believe that it is right or godly to perpetrate wars on other
nations. We don’t believe that governments should impoverish their people
and neglect the vulnerable. We don’t believe that it’s right that countless lives
are harmed through the drug trade. And yet, when we interact with people
who are either caught up in such moral wrongs or don’t believe them to be
wrong, we are still called to treat them with respect as individuals created in
God’s image, and offer them truth, salvation, hope, and God’s love.
Of course, at times we’ll feel called and convicted to speak up against wrong
or evil. The key in doing so, however, is to bear in mind that, as Christians, we
are first and foremost to show Jesus’ love and forgiveness to others. ...there’s
a difference between speaking the truth in love and giving way to
judgmentalism.
David taught that Christians are prone to self-righteousness, and
judgmentalism is one of the primary manifestations of self-righteousness. We
may not agree with people’s beliefs or actions, but that doesn’t make it right to
adopt a judgmental attitude toward people. We may have the conviction that
someone’s actions are not good or godly, but we are still called to love, even
as we stand up for our convictions and strongly held beliefs. …
Judge righteous judgment
One of the pitfalls that Christians face, and which I suspect is part of the
process of growth and becoming a mature Christian, is the tendency to want
to pin blanket labels or judgments on people or situations, or to categorize
issues in a black-and-white way, in order to more easily judge what is right
and what is wrong. … Not being judgmental doesn’t mean that we can’t or
shouldn’t evaluate the rightness of things and measure things by the standard
of God’s Word, and build our convictions accordingly. ...
We shouldn’t feel compelled to judge every person we encounter that has
something wrong in their life. We should be more concerned about helping
people and loving them into heaven than judging them on earth. God is the
judge; He knows the hearts of people and He understands everything about
them in a way that we would never be able to. He doesn’t need our help to
judge people; that isn’t what Jesus commissioned us to do.
So while it’s natural to internally process someone’s actions, it’s how you treat
the person and how you react to them that ultimately counts. ...
We are all sinners and men and women of like passions, who desperately
need Jesus’ love, mercy, and forgiveness. We are called to share His love
with others, and His power to forgive sin and to conquer its foothold in our
lives. Jesus’ love is unconditional and can cover the multitude of sins. There is
no sin that Jesus can’t redeem and wash away with His blood.
...
Law versus love
...
Judgmentalism portrays the opposite of unconditional love, and can squelch
our ability to freely give, as we have freely received. If we’re going to draw a
broader circle that allows many more people to participate in our faith and
vision for reaching the world and changing it with His love, we need to
eliminate judgmentalism in all its forms from our midst, whether it is directed at
people who are members of our fellowship of faith or those who are not.
Judging or labeling people by their perceived weaknesses instead of their
strengths, or their spirituality or discipleship, or their parenting style or skills, or
the behavior of their children, or their zodiac sign, or their physical
appearance, or age, or any other factor, works against the type of
inclusiveness, unity, and spirit of love that we hope will be hallmarks of our
Family of today and of the future.
...
Let’s not judge people or their potential for God or what they may or may not
do in the future by their success in the world today, or their financial standing,
or their position in society. Let’s be open to reaching anybody and everybody
we can and leading them to Jesus, thereby empowering them to find their
calling and fulfill God’s destiny for them.
—David Brandt Berg
If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
—Mother Teresa