As a Buddhist, I find it odd to see Christians often claiming that there are actually called to judge.
Case in point: Bob Enyart, a self proclaimed Christian, but more like Rush Limbaugh than Jesus, in my opinion.
He has written, "Judge Not is not Some Guy's Name."
http://www.kgov.com/docs/JudgeRightly.html
He continues by quoting:
Jesus repeatedly taught men to judge rightly, insisting they judge with righteous judgment (John 7:24)
What does the verse actually say?
24Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.
That's different than insisting that people simply judge. It's emphasizing on how not to judge (on appearances.) To quote "Free Your Mind":
Just because I wear tight close
And high heeled shoes
Don't mean that I'm
A prostitute.
People are often judged by their cover, rather than their character. Often, people judge groups of people that they haven't even met.
Now, this is what he is quoting:
Luke 7
He praise Simon for judging rightly - but he was judging himself. He wasn't being praised for judging the prostitute. He judged that the prostitute loved Jesus more than the Phrarisee, who taught the law. That's a very humbling thing to have to admit to the God you profess to worship, and whose people you lead.
Does it then make sense to suggest that Jesus is encouraging Christians to judge others? Or is it encouraging us to not judge the hearts of others of whom we cannot see nor know?
Secondly, after someone says, "Judge Not", another will try to defend their right to judge, by saying, "the very next verse says that by the standard we judge, so shall we be judged." A person once told me that if he didn't do X, then he could condemn and judge me for it.
One has to ask, to what end? To make yourself feel better than others? To exhalt yourself? The bible speaks of that as well:
Luke 18
In the story, the Pharisee wasn't cheating people out of money by being a tax collector, and yet he was not justified before God.
He wasn't "praised" for judging the tax collector, because he condemned him, not to edify the man, but to exhault himself. In exhalting himself, he makes himself not thankful of God's mercy, but thinking that he is above needing. He is God himself, not needing forgiveness, while other people are.
The person argued that they are only judged by the measure they judge. Therefore, they think homosexuality is wrong, and as long as they are not homosexual, that's ok for them to judge me.
I interpret the passage (in light of The Pharisee and the Tax Collector) that you are judged the way you judge others. The poster didn't know me, had only read my posts, but decided that because of homosexuality I was going to hell. (He seemed to think that being Buddhist was secondary.)
If the bible is true, then he will also be judged without mercy, without humility, and unjustly, without even examining his life. He will be judged on one sin.
Another poster claimed that he was sinless (because once you are forgiven, you are no longer held to the Law, and you never have to ask for forgiveness again.) This seems to fly in the face of "forgive us this day our sins", but apparently, he has risen above it. He then felt that because he was sinless, that he could rightly judge, because even those that commit the same acts as him are not equal - he isn't held by the Law. (Imagine explaining that on Judgement Day - "Yeah, I didn't think I was held to the Law, and so I didn't think that willfully disobeying was really a sin. Oops.)
Lastly, another poster argued that one is called to judge, becasue you are supposed to take the mote/dust out of someone's eye.
The verse: Mathew 7
1"(A)Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
2"For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and (B)by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you (C)look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
4"(D)Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?
5"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
A beam is a 2 x 4
A speck is like sawdust.
It is not, as the poster claimed, asking that people don't do what they judge in others.
It is saying that one should spend lest time worrying about the petty sins of their neighbor, and worrying about the gross sins of themselves, bringing us back to Simon's problem - he didn't love God very much, although he claimed to serve him. In the meantime, he focused on the prostitute, and in ignoring the log in his eye, probably spent more time poking people's eyes out when trying to remove the speck he saw as a huge problem.
Why is it that this brand of Christianity is so insistent on lifting themselves up above others by putting others down? Why is there such a self justification to judge others, when this is clearly unbiblical, and against what Christ taught? Is it right to be spending so much time focusing on the sins of others? Is that truly what Christ called Christians to do?
It's strange to hear someone sing, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me...", then step outside the church, and call someone a wretch, and think themselves better than. It's strange to hear people talk about how one cannot earn their way into heaven, then pat themselves on the back, saying, 'Well, I'm going to heaven, and you're not!", as is they, well, earned their way into heaven.
Is it morally right to teach such twisted interpretations of the bible? Is is right to exhalt yourself by focusing on the sins of others? What do you think God feels about Enyart's article?
Case in point: Bob Enyart, a self proclaimed Christian, but more like Rush Limbaugh than Jesus, in my opinion.
He has written, "Judge Not is not Some Guy's Name."
http://www.kgov.com/docs/JudgeRightly.html
His thesis is that Jesus command people to judge, but judge rightly. Christians are to make themselvces judges of what is right and wrong, or worse, other people.
He continues by quoting:
Jesus repeatedly taught men to judge rightly, insisting they judge with righteous judgment (John 7:24)
What does the verse actually say?
24Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.
That's different than insisting that people simply judge. It's emphasizing on how not to judge (on appearances.) To quote "Free Your Mind":
Just because I wear tight close
And high heeled shoes
Don't mean that I'm
A prostitute.
People are often judged by their cover, rather than their character. Often, people judge groups of people that they haven't even met.
Now, this is what he is quoting:
Luke 7
He praise Simon for judging rightly - but he was judging himself. He wasn't being praised for judging the prostitute. He judged that the prostitute loved Jesus more than the Phrarisee, who taught the law. That's a very humbling thing to have to admit to the God you profess to worship, and whose people you lead.
Does it then make sense to suggest that Jesus is encouraging Christians to judge others? Or is it encouraging us to not judge the hearts of others of whom we cannot see nor know?
Secondly, after someone says, "Judge Not", another will try to defend their right to judge, by saying, "the very next verse says that by the standard we judge, so shall we be judged." A person once told me that if he didn't do X, then he could condemn and judge me for it.
One has to ask, to what end? To make yourself feel better than others? To exhalt yourself? The bible speaks of that as well:
Luke 18
In the story, the Pharisee wasn't cheating people out of money by being a tax collector, and yet he was not justified before God.
He wasn't "praised" for judging the tax collector, because he condemned him, not to edify the man, but to exhault himself. In exhalting himself, he makes himself not thankful of God's mercy, but thinking that he is above needing. He is God himself, not needing forgiveness, while other people are.
The person argued that they are only judged by the measure they judge. Therefore, they think homosexuality is wrong, and as long as they are not homosexual, that's ok for them to judge me.
I interpret the passage (in light of The Pharisee and the Tax Collector) that you are judged the way you judge others. The poster didn't know me, had only read my posts, but decided that because of homosexuality I was going to hell. (He seemed to think that being Buddhist was secondary.)
If the bible is true, then he will also be judged without mercy, without humility, and unjustly, without even examining his life. He will be judged on one sin.
Another poster claimed that he was sinless (because once you are forgiven, you are no longer held to the Law, and you never have to ask for forgiveness again.) This seems to fly in the face of "forgive us this day our sins", but apparently, he has risen above it. He then felt that because he was sinless, that he could rightly judge, because even those that commit the same acts as him are not equal - he isn't held by the Law. (Imagine explaining that on Judgement Day - "Yeah, I didn't think I was held to the Law, and so I didn't think that willfully disobeying was really a sin. Oops.)
Lastly, another poster argued that one is called to judge, becasue you are supposed to take the mote/dust out of someone's eye.
The verse: Mathew 7
1"(A)Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
2"For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and (B)by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you (C)look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
4"(D)Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?
5"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
A beam is a 2 x 4
A speck is like sawdust.
It is not, as the poster claimed, asking that people don't do what they judge in others.
It is saying that one should spend lest time worrying about the petty sins of their neighbor, and worrying about the gross sins of themselves, bringing us back to Simon's problem - he didn't love God very much, although he claimed to serve him. In the meantime, he focused on the prostitute, and in ignoring the log in his eye, probably spent more time poking people's eyes out when trying to remove the speck he saw as a huge problem.
Why is it that this brand of Christianity is so insistent on lifting themselves up above others by putting others down? Why is there such a self justification to judge others, when this is clearly unbiblical, and against what Christ taught? Is it right to be spending so much time focusing on the sins of others? Is that truly what Christ called Christians to do?
It's strange to hear someone sing, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me...", then step outside the church, and call someone a wretch, and think themselves better than. It's strange to hear people talk about how one cannot earn their way into heaven, then pat themselves on the back, saying, 'Well, I'm going to heaven, and you're not!", as is they, well, earned their way into heaven.
Is it morally right to teach such twisted interpretations of the bible? Is is right to exhalt yourself by focusing on the sins of others? What do you think God feels about Enyart's article?
