"Anyone who calls anyone judgmental, well, er, is inherently judgmental. That icky substance - judgmentalism - lives inside of all of us. As followers of Jesus we are called to be the least judgmental, but often we find ourselves the most judgmental. Why?
I can offer a laundry list of reasons, but one of the biggest is that we take God's laws, as well as the hedges we build around them, and then place them on people who don't even believe in God. Worse, we become more concerned with behavior modification than real transformation. The result is that judgmentalism springs up in our hearts, shading our every attitude and interaction. So if a sixteen-to-twenty-nine-year-old thinks were judgmental, I'd love to fire back, but sadly, I have to agree. I don't want to agree. I want Christians to be known as the most loving people - the kind of people who love you until it hurts. But so far it seems like we're bringing more hurt than healing to many.
You see, love is the opposite of judgmentalism; it tempers our views, attitudes and interactions. In our cultural climate, love is foundational. Now some say that love has no agenda, but I believe that love is the agenda (see John 13:35). Whether in our communities, workplaces, or government, we must be committed to love those we work with and serve.
One of our weaknesses is that we're far more concerned with being right than being righteous. We become like the Pharisees whenever we focus on issues rather than people. Judgmentalism creeps in whenever we deal with issues as if they were black and white, rather than flesh-and-blood humans in need of redemption. Do you want to remove the unhealthy judgmentalism you have in regard to the poor? Make sure you have poor people who you love and welcome in your life. Do you want to remove the unhealthy judgmentalism you have in regard to homosexuals? Make sure you have gays and lesbians whom you love and welcome in your life. Do you want to remove the unhealthy judgmentalism you have in regard to our government? Make sure you have people involved in politics (even if it's just on the local level) whom you love and welcome in your life.
Then, when we talk about issues, we won't just be talking about those things we care about but people we care about. And the judgmentalism, well, it will naturally begin to fade away like it did for the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, and so many others."
- Margaret Feinberg, author and speaker, as quoted in Unchristian
2 comments:
Very wise words. It's not an easy thing to do. I work with many people from all walks of life as patients..I have found that what most people need is someone to listen to them without judgment. I'm still a work in progress there. I think she's right as far as putting a face to something..or put yourself in the other person's shoes.
I like Margaret Feinberg's writings. She has a book called "God Whispers" that I plan to get.
I enjoyed reading that, it was very insightful.
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