Passing judgement.

[Danhalen]

I know that Christians believe only God can pass judgement, but let's be honest, we all do it. I am curious about how we should pass judgement on other people. What sparked my curiousity is the negative reaction that many have shown over the newly elected Pope. We know the man was once in The Hitler Youth, but given his circumstances, I can hardly blame him for that. I used to be a drug addict, incapable of caring for myself. Now I have a wife, two kids, a dog, bird, fish, and a house (and alot of bills). Should I be judged for my capability to take care of business based on my past errors, or should I be judged on the current ability? We all have something in our past that we wish we had done some other way. We can't change the past, but we can form our future. We are the sum total of our life's experience. It's not the experience that matters, it's what we did, and are going to do, with that experience.

I hate to quote from the book but; "Judge not, lest ye be judged yourself." I can't do it, I have to say that I am quoting Bob Marley.

 

[SteveR2021]

There is a great deal of debate among Christians on this one. Some would suggest that we ought to never pass judgment on others...but of course that is an impossible stance if we care anything for justice (can't put a murderer in jail in less we judge him or her).

Should I be judged for my capability to take care of business based on my past errors, or should I be judged on the current ability? We all have something in our past that we wish we had done some other way. We can't change the past, but we can form our future. We are the sum total of our life's experience. It's not the experience that matters, it's what we did, and are going to do, with that experience.

The Bible would say that God holds us accountable for past actions...but He promises to forgive us and wipe our record clean if we repent (sincerely apologize and stop doing the things we shouldn't do).

Most Christians would agree that we must have some kind of a system in place that protects the rights of individuals...in other words, most of us don't believe in legislating morality - individuals should be legally free to live 'morally' or 'immorally'. But, this freedom ends when we threaten to impinge upon the rights of others...that is my poor summary of the situation.

As for judging the morality of individual people...

I would make a distinction between recognizing that a particular activity is immoral and judging a person's heart and motive. For example, I believe it is immoral to engage in sexual intimacy outside of marriage. Some of my friends are sexually intimate outside of marriage...i recognize that behavior as immoral but i do not judge their heart or motive (is this a fair distinction?).

There is one further distinction that needs to be made that confuses a lot of Christians. We do not believe it is right to judge each other (as you have rightly pointed out) and that means we generally stay silent when confronted with the 'immoral' behavior of other Christians. However, the Bible (New Testament: 1 Corinthians 5) teaches that Christians have a responsibility to judge those inside the church (for the well being of the church and for the well-being of the 'offending member'). We are told explicitly that we are NOT to judge those outside the church - and Christians can be bad at this - but we are to judge those in the church...those who have subjected themselves to the authority of the church.

I hope that helps...if that doesn't make sense i'll be happy to try and clarify. If i have not answered your question - my apologies.

Stephen

 

[Danhalen]

I hope that helps...if that doesn't make sense i'll be happy to try and clarify. If i have not answered your question - my apologies.

Stephen

Actually, you made quite a bit of sense. I especially like the part of holding your morality to yourself when concerning the actions of your friends. Withholding judgement, you sure you're not agnostic? hehehe.

 

[SteveR2021]

Withholding judgement, you sure you're not agnostic? hehehe.

The sad truth is that Christians have done such a good job of judging those outside the church that to withold judgement seems almost unChristian...
But no I'm not agnostic.

 

[Chrysalis Kat]

I think the difference is in decerning the difference between using judgement in making decisions from passing judgement on the motivations/intentions of another person. There's an important difference. We can never really know with certainity what is inside another persons head or their heart. That's entirely out of our domain.

We have to use judgement when selecting which behaviors are acceptable and which ones are deemed criminal. This is how society functions.
Yet even when we do this, we need to be aware of how limited our abilities to pass judgement on another person's innate worth and value.

 

[silastheDM]

We have to judge, that is a part of life (do I eat the apple or the orange is a judgement call). In Matthew 7:2 Jesus said, "Judge not lest ye be judged." But to fully understand what He means, I think it would behoove us to look at Matthew 7:3 where Jesus said, "You will be judged by the same standard you use to judge others." While I am no great philosopher, I take this to mean that the problem is not with judging, but rather with the motives behind our judgement. It is not wrong to call sin sin, if you are doing it to help the person repent and get right with God. But if you are pointing out the sin in other people to somehow boast about yourself, you are infact sinning (cf. Matthew 7:1-5)
That's just my take, though.

 

[kedaman]

I know that Christians believe only God can pass judgement, but let's be honest, we all do it. I am curious about how we should pass judgement on other people. What sparked my curiousity is the negative reaction that many have shown over the newly elected Pope. We know the man was once in The Hitler Youth, but given his circumstances, I can hardly blame him for that. I used to be a drug addict, incapable of caring for myself. Now I have a wife, two kids, a dog, bird, fish, and a house (and alot of bills). Should I be judged for my capability to take care of business based on my past errors, or should I be judged on the current ability? We all have something in our past that we wish we had done some other way. We can't change the past, but we can form our future. We are the sum total of our life's experience. It's not the experience that matters, it's what we did, and are going to do, with that experience.

I hate to quote from the book but; "Judge not, lest ye be judged yourself." I can't do it, I have to say that I am quoting Bob Marley.