Learning Where Judge and Love Meet

The Truth can find us in all sorts of strange ways. Take for example this morning when I was getting ready for the day and listening to some sports talk radio (one of my favorite pass times). On this morning’s “Mike and Mike” show the hosts were discussing the use of smokeless tobacco products in light of Tony Gwynn’s early death partially due to his use of dip and chew. While I did not hear the entire conversation both the Mikes attested to the courtesy of their callers who discussed and debated whether Major League Baseball should ban the use of smokeless products to lessen their prominence and prevent young viewers from thinking it is “cool.”

All of the civility went out the window as Mike Greenberg read an email from an irate listener. This man had been a fan of the show for many years, but was going to stop listening after today’s broadcast because this show is now just like the rest of the media. The disappointed listener went on to write that no one can tell him how to live his life, especially not the media. What I heard the listener saying is quite common in our society, “No one can judge me.”

Today’s reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans makes this claim as well, “Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, whenyou judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself,because you, the judge, are doing the very same things” (2:1). We rejoice in this passage because we can point to it and say, “YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! ONLY GOD CAN!”

We do not like the feeling of being judged. Certainly Jesus makes a claim for doing the work of figuring out where we are in the wrong first when he talks about getting the log out of our eye before weinspect the speck of sawdust in another’s. Yet, the Truth I recognized this morning is that so often when I feel I am being judged I want to pack up my toys and go play by myself. It is not that we judge it is how we do it.

If I did use smokeless tobacco products I would certainly know that they are bad for me, this fact is written on the packaging. And, if you saw me using tobacco products you would certainly know that I was putting myself in danger by using them. Yet, I do not want to know that you know that I am putting myself in danger, and I do not want to hear that you know that I am putting myself into danger because then I would have to acknowledge the way I am living my life. Let me go on living in denial, please! Most often when someone points out a flaw in us, even if they do so politely, it feels as though they are being too direct, too confrontational, and too mean. Looking at the opposite end of the spectrum though, what if no one ever judged that we had done anything wrongly?

We could live however we want to live. We could do whatever we want to do. We could congratulate ourselves for the simplest accomplishment. We could scream as loud as we want to in our very own echo chamber without anyone saying a peep. The difficulty in living in this way though is that there is no growth, no transcendence, and no way of getting closer to God. The solution is not isolation, nor is it a total lack of judgment, but rather a redefining of how we share difficult, confrontational, and crucial information with one another.

When God created all things God made a judgment about Creation. God said, this is good, and this is very good. When God’s people chose their own way and not God’s will God did not judge that they ought to be destroyed. Rather time and time again God sent leaders (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron) to bring the people back to God in all sorts of strange and creative ways (i.e. see the Pentateuch). God sent the prophets when God judged that the Israelites were not living up to their “Chosen People” status. Then God sent Christ Jesus, his Son, to judge the people in a way that shows what kind of judgment awaits us.

We judged that Jesus should die, so we put him to death. Yet even in this moment God did not choose to destroy us, but God judged that forgiveness transcends revenge, that life overcomes death, that love unites us not separates us. Judgment and love cannot be separated in God’s decisions. Yet, this is what we choose to do when we simply point out flaws in other people, when we choose to be cynical about the state of the world, and when we point our fingers blaming one another for our collective challenges. This is like a doctor giving a diagnosis without a treatment plan. This is like giving someone a fishing pole without teaching them how to fish. If we spend our time only pointing to the problems in our lives, without working through a solution with others, then we are cutting ourselves off from the healing, transcending, and redeeming love of Christ.

None of us like to be judged because that Truth is so hard to hear and when we hear it we might feel shame or guilt for being that way. Yet, we must hear and accept the Truth about ourselves to grow closer to one another and closer to God. We must look to the way that God judges us. Do not judge by pointing a finger, but by extending a hand in love, for that is how God judges us with an overabundant love that overcomes even death.