Our country is divided, marked frequently by two opposite extremes. If you don’t believe me, you’re ignorant and probably evil, and I never want to speak to you again, nor do I want anything to do with you for the rest of my life. I don’t mean that seriously, of course, but it seems that many feel that way when it comes to other people with whom they disagree.
Perhaps the heart of the problem is that we do not look deeply and honestly enough at ourselves. I remember our beloved former pastor at Sunrise, the late Mark Kent, preaching on a Sunday morning and noting how people often say they won’t attend a worship service “because there are too many hypocrites in church.” Mark’s response was basically this: “No, that’s not true. There’s always room for one more.”
As was often the case, Mark delivered some deep truth, mixed with a healthy dose of humor. His point, obviously, was that we’re all hypocrites. There may be different degrees, motives, and intentions, but we all live in ways that don’t line up with what we say we believe. But instead of admitting that and dealing with it, we tend to judge other people for doing essentially the same thing we’re doing.
Along those lines, I read the excerpt below from the new book, Uncanceled, by Phil Robertson, of “Duck Dynasty” fame:
Even though the rule is to be kind, loving, and nonjudgmental, it doesn’t always apply, because there is a hidden exception to the rule: you are permitted to be unloving, unkind, and judgmental if you are calling out someone you decide isn’t loving, kind, and nonjudgmental. Then you can hate and judge all you want.
If that doesn’t summarize what we see in our nation and in the church, I don’t know what does! Jesus talked about judging others in Matthew chapter 7, where He said that we will be judged in the same way we judge others. One of the many dangers of passing such judgment is that our own standard will come back to haunt us. To make things worse, when we condemn someone’s behavior, whether it’s sinful or simply different than our own, we almost never use the proper standard of judgment.
We tend to judge others according to our own strengths and opinions, and our judgments are based on extremely limited knowledge. We should also recognize the difference between arrogant and humble judgment. I ran across some examples of both kinds:
Arrogant judgment says, “I would never do something like that.”
Humble judgment says, “Though I may not struggle like they do, I sin against Jesus in 10,000 other ways.”
Arrogant judgment says, “I’m better than them.”
Humble judgment says, “We both need Jesus.”
Speaking for myself, I have enough trouble judging my own motives, let alone someone else’s. And even if I could judge properly, I know that I sin and fall short as much, if not more than, the people who are supposedly worse than I am. With that in mind, I’m deciding to control what I can control: my actions. I want to become a better version of myself and actually live out what I say I believe. I’ll know I’ve succeeded when I’ve earned the best possible reputation with those who know me better than anyone else in the world.
This is summed up well by Mark Batterson, who writes the following in his book, Win the Day: “Relationally, success is when those who know you best respect you most. At the end of the day, I want to be famous in my home.”
Troy Burns