From many
recent experiences, I am learning of my need for God to be clear on what He
thinks about my life. In other words, I need God to make some judgments about
me. I see this as a great and exciting thing, because I am confident that God
makes true judgments. I also believe this to be good because I am confident in
the fact that God created me, and loves me.
We all have
aspects of our lives where we need solid information on what is either good or
bad. Regarding how we live as families and communities, we have decisions to
make. These decisions shape our lives in many powerful and meaningful ways. One
of the aspects that has become very confusing and misleading is justice. We all
want it, but collectively we don’t do well defining or experiencing it. One
reason for such confusion in this area is that only a just judge can provide justice.
When
thinking about this main thought, God judges the way we wish we could.
God judges with righteousness, equity, and truth. Psalm 98: 9 stats,
“Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness
shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.” Our judgment falls
short of the truth and is based on status and relationship. Concerning this, Psalm
58:1 states, “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation?
do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?” This questions is asked in the
negative. Asking a question on the negative is done when the one asking the
question assumes a no answer. An
example of this is a study on morality by Jonathan Haidt and Jonathan Baron
(1996).
“Three
experiments investigated how moral judgements of harmful acts and omissions are
affected by information about social roles. Subjects were given vignettes in
which the relationship between an actor and victim was varied along the dimensions
of solidarity (e.g. friends versus strangers) and hierachy (e.g. superior
versus equal; the terms are from Hamilton&
Sanders, 1981). Subjects were asked to judge the morality of the actor in each
case, both for a harmful omission (e.g. intentionally withholding the truth)
and for an equivalent act (e.g. actively lying). Subjects judged the behaviour
worse in the act than the omission. Judgements were also affected by role
relationships. The act-omission difference was also greater in the low-responsibility
roles. Responses to the high-responsibility roles seem to reflect in a
consequentialist perspective, focusing on outcomes rather than prohibitions.”
Second to
desiring to judge in the way God judges, when we understand God as a righteous judge, we desire His judgement. We
desire this because God is righteous and full of integrity. Psalm 7:8 states, “The
LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
and according to mine integrity that is in me.” Two more Psalms make the same
point. Psalm 26:1 “Judge
me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD;
therefore I shall not slide” and Psalm 35:24 “Judge me, O LORD my
God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.”
Thirdly, love and judgement
go together. Many belive this to be the exact opposite. Observe this example
from nojudgmentjustlove.com. On this website there is a motto and a pledge. The
motto is “Inspire No Judgment. Just Love.” The pledge is, “Create a world
filled with people who see beyond their first impressions and treat each other
with respect. I pledge: (1) To be kind and living to myself, so that I can be
kind and loving to others. (2)
To recognize when I am judging harshly, then pause and change to something
different. (3) To know I don’t have
to understand everyone. I can just allow and let them be. (4) To know the joyful expression of
forgiveness and truly let thing go. (5)
To look for and find more things to be grateful for in my life. (6) To include fun and laughter in every
day. (7) To open my heart to live in ways that inspire others to live with no judgment. Just love. As you look at this motto
and pledge notice that it is mixed with truths that do not have anything to do
with judgment. These truths give the pledge a sense of truth that masks the
unlivable claims about judgement.
To further
make this point, in 2006 a journal called Psychology, Crime and Law reported on a
study of both delinquent and community controlled teenagers concerning moral
judgement, cognitive distortions, and empathy. They concluded that moral
judgement and cognitive distortions are important treatment targets for
juvenile delinquents, whereas empathy may be less meaningful to address
directly. These conclusions help us understand that if people are to
move forward in to health, they will have to learn how to make strong moral
decisions and grow out of cognitive distortions. These call for strong, loving,
and truthful judgment that leads us towards God’s best for us.
If you
accept what I am saying in the message, then I encourage you to embrace God’s
judgment. I believe that as you do, you will come to understand His love in
brand new ways. I also desire that our church be a place where God’s judgment
is understood and loving used to
promote a healthy vibrant life. With this I believe we can
hold a meaningful place in each others lives and our community.
References
Haidt, Jonathan, and Jonathan Baron.
"Social roles and the moral judgement of acts and omissions." European
Journal of Social Psychology 26.2 (1996): 201-218.
Lardén, Martin, et al. "Moral
judgement, cognitive distortions and empathy in incarcerated delinquent and
community control adolescents." Psychology, Crime & Law 12.5
(2006): 453-462.
