rjb@akgua.UUCP (R.J. Brown [Bob]) (02/01/85)
Re: Judgement of behavior in Christianity
I think the whole subject of judgement of behavior has been
misunderstood and the relevant Scriptures have been quoted
incompletely or out of context.
Of course, the most dangerous kind of judgement is motive
judgement. External behavior can be identical in two individuals
while their motives can be diametrically opposed.
However, BEHAVIOR judgement is essential to some functions in this
life. For instance, I am the father of three boys. Their behavior,
...you know, whether they obey me and my wife or not, must constantly
be judged by us. For me, three elements stand out as essential to
judgement:
1) Responsibility - If I am responsible for you, say as
an employer or parent or fellow believer.
2) Authority - If you recognize that I have some authority
in the particular area of judgement. (Of course, this
is idealized - The criminal doesn't necessarily recognize
Judicial authority.)
3) Recognition of a common higher authority and a willingness
to be judged by the same standard you are using on the
"judgee".
And here I will quote the oft misquoted passage from Matthew
7:1-5
Jesus says:
"Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, (MOST PEOPLE
STOP THE QUOTE HERE - BB) for God will judge you in the same way you
judge others and he will apply to you the same rules you apply to
others. Why then do you look at the speck in your brother's eye
and pay no attention to the log in your own eye ? How dare you
say to your brother, 'Please let me take that speck out of your
eye,' when you have a log in your own eye ? You hypocrite !
First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be
able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
To me the first sentence when read in the context of what follows
is the general principle or warning not to judge where you do not
have responsibility or authority since it will come back on you
in an equal measure. The second sentence warns us about our tendency
to criticize OUR OWN shortcomings when we see them in others.
The balance of the passage indicates that WHEN you judge on a matter
you best have a clean slate in at least that area. The inevitability
of judgements made in the real world seems to me to be the only
necessity of adding the last sentence in the passage. He could have
just as easily stopped at "You hypocrite !" or better yet right after
the first sentence.
A BIG MISTAKE we Christianoids make is judging the unsaved people's
behavior. This is where folks like Rich Rosen have us nailed.
If you are an unsaved person your behavior has little theological
significance (although as a practical matter I'd rather have a "nice"
unsaved person living next door to me than a carnal, backslidden,
Christian.)
That is the micro case of individual behavior within the context
of legally acceptable actions. Even that crisp line can be smudged
for the individual when man's laws conflict with God's laws. That, in
the Christian version of it, is the root of civil disobedience.
The other thorny problem on the macro scale is an ungodly person
of great power such as Stalin or Hitler. We engage in judgement
of that behavior and do act against it, although, not on individual
decision basis.
Bob Brown {...ihnp4!akgua!rjb}