Judgment Is Not The Same As Judgmental

Judgment Is Not The Same As JudgmentalrnBy Rev. Katherine Appello rnLife is full of judgment calls, which we make from a very young age. Very young children determine what colors foods, and toys they prefer. As we grow older we make more complex judgments about whom we choose as friends, what classes to take, and what career path to follow so on and so forth. Therefor, making judgments is a part of life. However, as soon as a person of faith makes a judgment about something, they are called a bigot, a racist or such and ridiculed. It is a double standard to be sure. I also think that as people of faith, whether you are a Christian or of any faith, you must make a distinction between judgment and judgmental. As a Christian I will speak from that point of view. One judgment we make as a Christian, a true Christian is to follow Christ and if we are wise Sola Scriptura, while seeking illumination on those very scriptures through research and study. Jesus tells us: "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24 and he also tells us: "I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.... But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate" (Revelation 2:2,6. Our ways, or judgments are not the wisest because they are capricious, carnal. Also our ways tend to be one sided, in that we will often only see what is messed up about the other person and not what we need to fix within ourselves, or we will distract to save our own tukkus by pointing the finger at others. Even our legal system at times is skewed and we see false evidence planted, people giving false witness to save themselves, all kinds of shenanigans going on. Jesus was well aware of how we could be judgmental and also how we could look only at the outward appearance and focus only on gravitating to those who could be of use to us and we could use for our own benefit or could make us look good by association, not caring if they were godly people or not. He knew what was what. Yet, he still reached out, he still gave his life in the hopes of saving us from our very own selves. Okay, so you might wonder, just how one judges without being judgmental. It is possible, evens if not always automatic, as we humans have a tendency to automatically go to being judgmental. One element is critical thinking and spiritual discernment that allows us to pray for the sinner and help them to receive the Holy Spirit to be cleansed of sinful tendency and desires. As the bible points out our judgments mustn’t nitpick on peripheral matters, gray areas, or personal opinion, be righteous, so as to strengthen and edify each individual and the church. We must reject anything that is not purely of the Gospel, for it is not to be changed or added to in any way. Then one might say: “How do we deal with sinners, do we say it’s okay to sin?” No, of course not, silly nillies. However, what you don’t do is make them feel like crap and like criminals without any hope of redemption. We also can’t exclude them from fellowship and make them feel that God hates them, or wants nothing to do with them. Remember Jesus came from the broken, the wounded etc…. We have to help them do a lot of discernment, soul searching, to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit, so that God can work internally to change them, so they change their mindset, their ways. They can’t do that if we judge them and make them feel like total dirt, ever unworthy, unsalvageable. Granted there are some that are unreachable, but I can’t believe that that is the majority. When we are judging, we have to remember to judge the action, the circumstances that led to the action, and then help the person go through the soul searching and redemption process, and pray for them, long and hard. That is the difference between judgment and judgmental.