Monday, 9 March Seeking the Messiah. Matthew 7:1–6
Of almost everything that Jesus ever said, perhaps the first three words of this reading has been more misused than anything else:Do not judge...An entire generation of Millennials has taken it on as their mantra: Don’t judge me!
It’s an easy-enough principle at first glance. Take the log out of your own eye before you try to comment on the little splinter in your neighbour’s eye. When you point at someone, there are always three fingers pointing back at yourself.
But after you’ve got over that simple bit, you get to the really hard parts. Life seems to involve a fair bit of judging, that is often quite unavoidable.
Will that person make a suitable husband or wife for my child (or me!)? I’ve got to make a judgement. The popular dating app, Tinder, has reduced that judgement to a simple directional swipe, with echoes of Jesus’ parable: sheep to the right, goats to the left!
Will that person make a suitable employee? I've got to make a judgement.
Is that person who has just stolen from the company likely to steal again if I don’t dismiss him? I've got to make a judgement.
Will that person make a good Prime Minister? I've got to make a judgement.
In the cut and thrust of real life, surely we have to be able to say that terrorists who blow up suburban busses, and paedophiles who prey on children are just wrong! That their acts are evil. That they should be punished. That drug-dealing is wrong. That honesty is right. That kindness is good. That not picking up a hitchhiker because I don’t trust his appearance may be wise – even it is raining.
That’s a lot of judging, but there are two principles which can help us see what Jesus was getting at here. But! … both principles must be observed at the same time. They can’t operate alone
Principle One:Distinguish between judging and assessing. Judge the action, but assess the person. Murder, theft, abuse are wrong, and we are required to say so, without apology. Depending on our context, i.e. whether it is any of our business, and we’re not just being gossips, we have a responsibility to assess the person who is guilty to decide how we will relate to them. That is a responsibility we hold for the sake of our community, whatever that community is – our family, our neighbourhood, our workplace, our nation, and so on.
Principle Two:Protect the Community.When dealing with persons involved, be merciful empathetic and gracious – but also exercise care and caution for others who will be affected.
This passage does not show us Jesus in a careless, free-for-all, non-judgementalist role. We know that in many other places, Jesus tells us to carefully judge the Pharisees and others who are distorting the truth. Indeed, casting pearls before swine (v6) requires some careful assessment before it can be implemented! Jesus is always consistent. Let’s give his teaching the benefit of a thoughtful approach, not just take it at a superficial level.
Let’s apply our two principles to a relatively easy case.
A businessman has been found guilty of fraudulent dealing. He goes to gaol. When he comes out, he asks us for a job. Will we appoint him as our Accountant? The courts have judged his misdeeds; we have to assess his character, while at the same time, protecting our business and our community. He has demonstrated a failure to be honest in financial matters. He ought not be our first choice for a job which requires him to manage our money. We will, however, be kind to him, and assume that he wants to start over in an honest way. We may give him a job that has no responsibility for money.
We won't risk our important resources on an unknown quantity. We are still to be careful, in our mercy, not to be conned by wicked people. Psychologists and parole boards often seem to stumble on this, not understanding these two principles properly.
But to be fair, let’s try our principles out on a hard case. We are asked to choose between two refugee families. One has destroyed or concealed their personal papers and arrived via a people-smuggler on a costly journey. The other has sought a place in a refugee camp where they have applied with whatever personal papers they can find through official channels, and where they have been waiting for many years. This process takes a lot longer and leaves you out of the media’s sight at the mercy of bureaucracy and officialdom. (You can complicate the question further if you like, by assigning to each a particular religion.)
Religious figures, even the Pope, have sometimes made broad generalising statements about how it is Christian behaviour to accept all refugees, largely on the basis of this scripture and others about caring for the oppressed. In a world where there are limited refugee places, it may not be as simplistic as these uncritical voices suggest. A thoughtful application of our two principles, which are consistent with other passages of Jesus’ teaching may make life somewhat easier and safer to navigate.
Again, we should remember that this passage is still in the context of the Sermon on the Mount. This teaching is given to people who are within the kingdom of heaven; the word ‘brother’ (Greek: adelphos) is used in vv3-5. (Some translations, perhaps wanting to be politically correct, have translated this word as ‘neighbour’.) Perhaps this teaching is not intended to be applied to general political or social questions, but only to matters within the Christian community.
For my own practical Christian life, both in church and other Christian communities as well as in general life, I find the merciful but thoughtfully careful application of these two principles to be helpful to my understanding of Jesus’ instructions here.
It enables me to avoid the thoughtless, strident rebuke of social media: you have no right to judge anyone! Stop being so judgemental! And it gives me a way of responding to the same social media which often judges more harshly and in stronger language than I would ever use, with a thoughtful Christian response, that is both gracious and responsible to my community to which I am responsible. I have found the principles useful as an employer, as a parent, and as a church member.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, it seems that your words are often misused. I suppose that I often do that too. Please help me to be a thoughtful, careful disciple, weighing your words carefully against your many other teachings and other passages of scripture. Help me, in a difficult world, to be careful, competent and kind. Thank you for your grace to me. Amen.
