Bright Spot: Best not to judge without all the facts
The banner used to appear at every major sporting event. It had the best-known, most-beloved Bible verse of “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Somewhere in the past 10 years, that verse has been displaced by one more popular. Any guesses? It’s Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” No big surprise here in our age of moral relativism where what’s right for you may not be right for me. Or there’s no such thing as objective truth in the moral arena.
It’s so easy to jump to conclusions in judgment if we’re just going on appearances. The only exercise some get is stretching the truth, pushing their luck and jumping to conclusions.
I had a dear relative contact me to ask if I was OK financially because they saw I was selling so much furniture on Facebook Marketplace. I’m sure many judged I was not OK, or just trying to line my pockets with some “mad money” to spend on myself. I’ve kept records though, and if I had to pay myself an hourly rate for this little side hustle, as my son calls it, I would be barely breaking even.
But I don’t begrudge the time or effort. I’ve already explained in this column what these sales are all about. Through rescuing and refurbishing furniture that people have put by the trash compactor at our apartment complex, I not only slow the filling of landfills, I am able to give significant funds to a Christ-based charity in Kenya that feeds impoverished children there for 10 cents a day. (See Kenyakidscan.org and consider giving!)
I assured my compassionate kin I was OK financially. My church, Alliance Friends, where I pastored 41 years, was more than adequate to provide for us. Long story short – there’s often a story behind every surface appearance. Another example – a CEO of a major charity rebuked me harshly when I told him his organization and Jesus shared the same mission. We had just finished a major fundraiser that took a lot of hard work for both of us to help fund the organization we both served, I as a volunteer. What I meant as an innocent compliment he called “proselytizing.” Now, I know what proselytizing is. I believe in it. I’ve done it. That wasn’t it. Instead of responding out of hurt or anger I simply asked if I could hear the story behind his strong reaction.
With people like him, there’s almost always a story of church hurt. In his case it was compounded by PTSD from military service in combat. I cut those service persons a lot of slack. I told him how much I appreciated his service with the army and this benevolent organization we both believed in.
Right after Jesus told us not to judge comes this command: “Take the log out of your own eye first.” (Matthew 7:5) Jesus’ brother admonished us to be “Slow to speak and quick to listen.” (James 1:19) That’s why God gave us two ears and one mouth. We don’t learn much talking, but much while listening. It’s also hard to be judgmental when your mouth is shut and your ears are wide open, like we see Jesus so often advise and act out.
Rick Sams is pastor emeritus of Alliance Friends Church.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Bright Spot: Best not to judge without all the facts
