Whose To Judge?

If there is one thing we all know Jesus taught about, except for love, it would be that we are not to judge others.

The sense that I get about judging, when reading the various ancient language definitions, is that it is basically one person placing themselves in the position of a god. A ruler, one who decides, assess another.  The guardian of rights and customs.  In the Jewish understanding, which Jesus is using, God is the only one to judge.

We humans are totally guilty of judging others.  We may not verbalize it.  But we all judge!  If you are the exception, I take off my hat to you.  You are a gold medal individual!

When I was in my teen-age year I was extraordinarily effected by the problem of judgement.  It is a time in every kids life when we begin to assess one another. I did it!  I also got it!  But something in me dwelled on the it.  I was aware of the hurt it caused.  The gossip it created.  Some kids thrived on talking about others.

One day, while thinking about  judgment, I read a poem  titled  Watch Yourself God By.  It was written when gender was mostly in terms of male terminology.

JUST STAND ASIDE and watch yourself go by;

Think of yourself as " he " instead of " I. "

Note, closely as in other men you note,

The bag-kneed trousers and the seedy coat.

Pick flaws; find fault; forget the man is you,

And strive to make your estimate ring true.

Confront yourself and look you in the eye —

Just stand aside and watch yourself go by.

Interpret all your motives just as though

You looked on one whose aims you did not know.

Let undisguised contempt surge through you when

You see you shirk, O commonest of men!

Despise your cowardice; condemn whate'er

You note of falseness in you anywhere.

Defend not one defect that shames your eye —

Just stand aside and watch yourself go by.

And then, with eyes unveiled to what you loathe,

To sins that with sweet charity you'd clothe,

Back to your self-walled tenement you'll go

With tolerance for all who dwell below.

The faults of others then will dwarf and shrink,

Love's chain grow stronger by one mighty link,

When you, with " he " as substitute for " I, "

Have stood aside and watched yourself go by.

by Strickland W. Gillilan

The impact of this poem had on my young mind has never left me.  Am I still guilty of passing judgment from time to time?  Yes, I am!  But I am also quite aware that I too am the target of other’s assessment; and how hurtful that can be.

So, I want to shift another point, in Jesus teaching here, that often gets miss:

“A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

Think about that!  The measure of judgment we give will be the measure we get back.  Piled high on our laps!

37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back." …….41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your neighbor, "Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye. (Lk. 6)