Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus
As we observe the Great Lent, I would like to focus on the Gospel Readings on the daily basis. Today, I am concentrating on the readings from evening portion, St. Matthew 7: 1-12. I would like to point out one lesson that Jesus teaches us, and that we mostly forget.
Judgementalism (v. 1-5)
Jesus teaches us that we are not to meant judge others, so that we might not be judged. But today, judgementalism is one of the most subtle sins that we practice, under the guise of being zealous for what is right. It's very obvious that within our conservative circles, there are a myriad of opinions on everything from theology to conduct to lifestyle and politics. Not only are there multiple opinions but we usually assume our opinion is correct. That's where our trouble with judgementalism begins. We equate our opinions with truth.
We are judgmental on the people dress when going to church. Most people would think "Didn't they have any reverence for God? Would they dress so casually if they were going to an audience with an important personality?". Only such thoughts are wrongs. There is nothing in the BIble that tells us what we ought to wear to church. I have had such thoughts in my heart.
Finally, I decided that reverence for God is not a matter of dress; it's a matter of the heart. Jesus said that true worshipers are those who worship the Father in spirit and truth (John 4:23). now its true that casual dress may reflect a casual attitude toward God, but I cannot discern that. Therefore, I should avoid ascribing an attitude of irreverence based purely on a person's dress.
Apostle Paul faced the problem of judgmentalism among the people in the church at Rome. One was vegetarianism vs. an "eat whatever you want" mentality. The second issue was a matter of observing sertain days as holy days. In Paul's words, "One person esteems one day as a\better than another, while another esteems all days alike." (Romans 14:5). Apparently, both sides of the parties were judgemental towards the other. Similarly, we today are judgemental towards contemporary music tunes in our churches against traditional music tunes. The same is true with the issue of temperance versus abstinence.
The point that I intend to make here is, it doesn't matter which side of an issue we are on. It is easy to become judgmental toward anyone whose opinions are different from ours. And then we hide our judgementalism under the cloak of Christian convictions.
Apostle Paul's response to the situation in Rome was, "Stop judging one another regardless of which position you take." And then he added, "Who are you to pass judgement on the servant of another. It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make Him stand" (Romans 14:4). Basically, Paul was saying, "Stop trying to play God toward your fellow believers in Christ. God is the Judge, not you."
That's what we do when we judge others whose preferences and practices are different from ours. We are arrogating ourselves a role God has reserved for Himself. Perhaps this is what Jesus had in mind when He taught in the above said passage.
What I have written to this point does not mean that we should never pass judgement on the practices and beliefs of others. When someone's lifestyle or conduct is clearly out of line with the Scriptures, then we are right to say that the person is sinning. There are practices clearly condemned in Scripture. For examples, look for St. Paul's description of the moral slide into utter depravity in Romans 1:24-32, or at his description of the "works of the flesh" (Galatians 5:19-21), or the characteristics of the "last days" (2 Tim. 3:1-5). These practices are clearly sinful and when we judge them as such, we are agreeing with the Word of God. It is the Bible that is judging, not ourselves.
Having said that, though, we can still sin even when we judge accordance with Scripture. We can sin if we judge from an attitude of self righteousness or if we judge harshly or with a spirit of censoriousness. We sin if we condemn the obviously flagrant sins of others without at the same time acknowledging that we ourselves are sinners before God.
During this blessed Lent, may the Lord Almighty help us to find our faults and help us in not judging others, without first judging ourselves.
Your Brother in Christ Jesus
Jobin George
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