Judgy much…

Hello my loves

I’m sorry I did not post yesterday. I should have planned better. That being said, let’s get right into today’s post.

A while ago I watched a movie which made me think about how sometimes as the church (the people in the church), we are lacking in compassion. In this film, a pastor’s wife was very critical of others, very controlling, authoritarian and was the moral judge of all. Her tongue was scathing and life was very far from it. With every word she spoke, she was cutting people down. She condemned a teenage girl in church who was pregnant out of wedlock and essentially isolated this girl and her mother. I think this girl later died shortly after childbirth although if she’d received help from the pastor’s wife for appropriate medical care, she might have survived. Little did Mrs Pastor know that her teenage daughter was also pregnant and seeing how her mother handled her friend’s pregnancy, opted for an abortion. I don’t remember what happened to the pastor’s daughter.

Seeing this play out was sad for many reasons. One reason was that the girls in this plot were not treated with grace or compassion. The fact that the pastor’s wife was the perpetrator of this wickedness made it worse. You’d hope that she would be a go-between if she observed that in her church. More importantly, the knowledge that this film reflects what happens in real life.

The fact that the consequences of someone’s sin are publicly expressed does not make the sin worse than someone else who seemingly gets away with it. For example, Premarital sex is wrong, period. A resulting pregnancy is not a reflection of the “grade” of the sin. Stealing is a sin, period. Whether you’re caught or not is not a reflection on how bad the sin is. All sin is inherently bad. I don’t believe God has a ranking scale for sin. All sin has the same spiritual consequence – separation from God. The physical consequences can differ based on what’s done. Someone who steals food worth £5 and someone who steals millions are both wrong but the (physical) legal consequences will be different. I think as humans, one mistake we make is that we use the physical consequences of a sin to rank how bad it is.

Yesterday in church we discussed Jesus’s interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:7-30,39). Although Jesus spoke the truth to her he did this gently and without condemnation so much so that she left the interaction, not to hide in shame, but with a desire to bring people to Jesus. It is not documented that Jesus tutted at this woman and demanded she fall to her feet weeping in repentance before he offered her living waters and unfettered access to God.

The church, this mammoth structure with many expressions, is in reality made up of imperfect people like you and me. Many times we get it wrong as we work out our salvation. Oftentimes we might need correcting or someone to help us examine our behaviour. (Read Luke 17:3-4)

I think there are a few things I’d like us to consider.

• As the church, we are not called to judge non-Christians by God’s standards. Their (im)morality is not based on a relationship with Jesus so we should not be surprised if their actions go against what we believe to be right.

• As the church, we are called to correct gently in love.

• As the church we are called to be careful when we think we’re standing firm and ensure we’re not on the edge of a downward spiral. Don’t be so sure you can not make the same mistake you’re judging someone else for. (Read 1 Corinthians 10:12)
• As the church, we’re called to be many things. We are NOT called to be judgmental, full of condemnation, threatening and guilt-tripping (verbally and otherwise) people into submission. We do not motivate (read control) people with fear. That is not what God stands for.  The Holy Spirit who is our guide convicts. He does not condemn. So let’s take our lead from him in our interaction and even thoughts about things we see.

Lord, I thank you for this topic of how we respond to others when we think they’re out of line. I know I’ve been guilty of judging people in my mind even if not outwardly. That’s not better than someone who judges outwardly. Lord forgive me for these times and help me to be more aware of when I’m doing this. Lord help me to remember that I’m not perfect and I’m not “better” than anyone. We just make different types of mistakes but your grace and mercy cover us all. Lord help me to be compassionate towards others and instead of judging, let my first instinct be to lift them in prayer. In instances where you might be encouraging me to speak with a person, grant me a heart of compassion such that I deliver the truth your way. Just as I might correct people, help me to also be open to receiving correction from others as required. Lord help us to be accountable to one another without taking offence. As we start to wind up the year, if there are people in need to apologise to, where I’ve been harsh, Lord reveal to me. Grant me the courage and humility to apologise and make amends in Jesus’s name, amen.