"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." John 7:24
Those who know me know that I pursue photography as a serious hobby. Awhile back, I posted a picture on my Facebook photo page of a seemingly poor young boy who was looking through a set of bars. When you post items on social media, you can expect commentary. In fact, it is often the purpose for doing so. In this case a young woman responded to the image. She implied that I was exploiting the child and suggested that I do something to help instead of taking pictures. What she did not know, nor care to ask, was that the image was captured during a mission trip to Haiti, that we were there on a medical mission to help people and not exploit them, and that the young boy was merely looking into a church courtyard from the outside and was not, himself, in any real distress or need. He was just curious.
This leads us to the context of today's Scripture. Jesus found himself being withstood by detractors who were using the fact that he healed an invalid man on the Sabbath day. To them, this was unforgivable and, in their minds, tore down his credibility to speak on matters of God and religion because what he had done was, in their minds, a violation of God's law. Jesus reminded them that they would circumcise a young boy on the Sabbath if the eighth day requirement happened to fall on that day and that they saw nothing wrong with it. The implication was that they would both be doing a work on the Sabbath and that the ritual caused pain. He countered that he was bringing healing on the Sabbath day and they wanted to kill him for it.
Beloved, we are so often quick with our opinions, particularly our negative ones. We formulate them with very little information, without stopping to ask questions or do research and often, with a great deal of emotion based on what we think, how we feel or how we may be affected. Further, we do so without examining ourselves. As Christians, we often take as a first principle that we are not to judge, particularly if we are the ones under scrutiny. I submit to you, however, that we are, in fact, required to judge situations and actions against the word of God, but must do so righteously and not in an effort to condemn based on our own thoughts and opinions.
I informed my photography critic of the circumstances and asked her if she was actually involved in helping anyone as missionaries do or just busying herself with misguidedly demeaning what others are doing. Jesus told his listeners to look and consider more deeply before rendering a verdict. Wise advice for us all.
Building God's family,
Lee
Showing posts with label John 7:24. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John 7:24. Show all posts
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Don't Judge Me 6/6/2013
"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” John 7:24
It is kind of a running joke in my family that when someone makes a goofy mistake, there comes a loud and defensive, albeit joking, "Don't judge me!" by the perpetrator. The reply, invented by the youngest of the kids is, "It's too late. You've already been judged."
In Christianity, we advocate the avoidance of judging others and cite scriptures like Matt 7:1-2 but then we do it anyway. Jesus addressed this contradiction by referencing the fact that there were those who wanted to kill him for miraculously healing someone on the Sabbath, a day on which no work was to be done. He pointed out that they circumcised babies on the Sabbath when the 8th day after birth fell on that day in order to keep the law but they wanted to destroy him for obeying God's ultimate law of love.
Beloved, it is not that we should not judge, but how we judge, be it favorably or unfavorably. When Jesus said, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged" in Matt 7:21, he was cautioning against having an attitude that results in unjustly looking upon the character of another and making rash and unloving judgments about them. To be sure, we must take a stand for righteousness and be able to correct our brothers and sisters when it is needed (Prov 27:6, Gal 6:1-2); however, we must consider the spirit in which this is done. Do we jump to uninformed and mean spirited conclusions based on what we see on the surface, or worse, what we have heard from others or do we apply love to the situation and treat others as we would want to be treated?
When Jesus healed despite the Sabbath, the rules of which had been extended far beyond what God stipulated by man, he did so out of love for someone who was hurting. His adversaries were upset and accused him of having a demon, being a blasphemer and many other things. This was done out of hatred, using the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law to persecute him. Worse, it was the law that they set aside or reinterpreted when it was convenient to do so, often for much less noble reasons. Everything about this type of judgmental behavior is to be avoided. Jesus has said that when we do that to others, the same will be done to us.
Committed,
Lee
It is kind of a running joke in my family that when someone makes a goofy mistake, there comes a loud and defensive, albeit joking, "Don't judge me!" by the perpetrator. The reply, invented by the youngest of the kids is, "It's too late. You've already been judged."
In Christianity, we advocate the avoidance of judging others and cite scriptures like Matt 7:1-2 but then we do it anyway. Jesus addressed this contradiction by referencing the fact that there were those who wanted to kill him for miraculously healing someone on the Sabbath, a day on which no work was to be done. He pointed out that they circumcised babies on the Sabbath when the 8th day after birth fell on that day in order to keep the law but they wanted to destroy him for obeying God's ultimate law of love.
Beloved, it is not that we should not judge, but how we judge, be it favorably or unfavorably. When Jesus said, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged" in Matt 7:21, he was cautioning against having an attitude that results in unjustly looking upon the character of another and making rash and unloving judgments about them. To be sure, we must take a stand for righteousness and be able to correct our brothers and sisters when it is needed (Prov 27:6, Gal 6:1-2); however, we must consider the spirit in which this is done. Do we jump to uninformed and mean spirited conclusions based on what we see on the surface, or worse, what we have heard from others or do we apply love to the situation and treat others as we would want to be treated?
When Jesus healed despite the Sabbath, the rules of which had been extended far beyond what God stipulated by man, he did so out of love for someone who was hurting. His adversaries were upset and accused him of having a demon, being a blasphemer and many other things. This was done out of hatred, using the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law to persecute him. Worse, it was the law that they set aside or reinterpreted when it was convenient to do so, often for much less noble reasons. Everything about this type of judgmental behavior is to be avoided. Jesus has said that when we do that to others, the same will be done to us.
Committed,
Lee
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