Judge Me

            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.