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Ask Everyonce: The Art of Judging
By daniel | February 27, 2006
This came in from Jonathan Grimwood yesterday. My thoughts below:
The Art of Judging
Judging is essentially the mistakes of oneself being pointed out in another. If someone is to judge a person he truly does not know what lies within himself or else he would have pity and pray for the both of them. Here is an illustration from a Desert Father, monks in the years 300 to 600 ad, that expands on this point.
"In the skete(monastary) there was an assembly on the acount of a fallen brother. The fathers spoke; only Father Prior kept silent. Afterward he stood up, took a sack, filled it with sand, and carried it on his shoulders. Meanwhile he bore in front of him a little basket with a tiny amount of sand. The fathers asked him what that meant, and he answered:' This sack with all the sand is my sins. I have put them behind me so that they won't worry me, and I won't weep over them. And behold, the few errors of my brother are in front of me, and I say all sorts of things to condemn him. It is not right to do so. Rather I should carry my own in front of me and think about them and beg God to forgive them.' "
When i choose to judge I only delay my own growth and also discourage another. Judging is one of the worst stumbling blocks to love. Just ask a rebellious kid why he doesn't like Christians and he will tell you it is because they judge him. Let us put aside our selfish ways and confront ourselves so that we can be for the best interest of our neighbours.
"…take the beam out of your own eye so you can see clearly to remove the spec out of your brothers."
"Judge not"
In regards to condemnation, I think we can clearly see the trouble with this approach to judging… and I also see that the vast majority of times we talk about judging, it is in this thought… but we are also called to judge wisely within the church, such as in I Corinthians 5:12. What is the difference? Any further thoughts?
Topics: Ask Everyonce |
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