Exclude or Embrace?

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven

Luke 6:37

UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity is a book written by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons which is based on research done among non-Christian. One of the core findings was that Christians are widely perceived to be judgmental. Here's a brief quote:

Nearly nine out of ten young outsiders (87 percent) said that the term "judgmental" accurately describes present-day Christianity. … Just to put this in practical terms, when you introduce yourself to a twentysomething neighbor, and you mention your faith, chances are he or she will think of you as judgmental.

Whether or not Christians really are judgmental, that is the perception people have of us. So, it's pretty important that we understand what Jesus means when he says "Judge not." The key is recognizing that the word judge can be used two different ways in Scripture. Sometimes judge is used to speak of judging between two things: the act of differentiating or discerning. This is why we talk about judging between right and wrong, good and evil, righteous and unrighteous.

But this kind of judgment, this sense of discernment, is not what Jesus is commanding us to avoid. In fact, throughout the Bible we are called to discern. In Luke 6:43-45, for example, Jesus talks about having the discernment to see the difference between good people and evil people, comparing them to trees. "Good trees," he says, "produce good fruit. Bad trees produce bad fruit." Seeing that takes discernment. It's judging things correctly.

In verse 37, Jesus is calling on us not to condemn people, not to pass final judgment, not to declare others irretrievably guilty. This is an incredibly important idea if you understand the context in which Jesus was speaking.

The entire culture of first century Judea was predicated on the notion that some people were acceptable and others were not. The way you defined yourself, your identity and place in the world, was by contrasting yourself with others. For example, at that time Jews saw themselves as inherently better or more acceptable to God then non-Jews. In fact, they commonly referred to Gentiles as dogs or as less than human.

Jesus had something important to say than just not condemning others. If we just had the first part about not judging or condemning, we could say that Jesus just wants us to do no harm, to live and let live.

But by adding this command to forgive, Jesus is calling us to do something more. As his people we're not just supposed to tolerate people we disagree with. We're not just supposed to live and let live. We are called to be a people of forgiveness. And forgiveness is a call to actively seek out and reconcile. Another way of putting it is that Jesus wants us to move away from excluding others and toward embracing others.

Dear Friends, when we condemn someone we are declaring that they have no value, no worth and that they do not matter to us or God. We exclude them from belonging as a way of elevating ourselves. Let us realize there is so much we have to offer the world. Let us not judge. Let us not condemn.

This Lenten Season let's reject the all-too-common practice of devaluing others as a way of elevating ourselves. Let's instead forgive so we can break the cycles of hate in our world. Let's embrace others, even those we disagree with, with the same love that God has lavished upon us.

God bless you