Judge Not

At lunch this week, one of the women at the table told us about a same sex wedding with two women

that she recently observed at a hotel where she was staying. Another lady immediately responded with her disapproval in a harsh, judgmental manner based on the teaching of her Roman Catholic Church. Not wanting a confrontation, I refrained from asking her opinion about the many gay priests serving her church. I really believe that if Christ had been a guest at this event, He would have wished the couple well, had a glass of wine and spent some of the evening befriending the other guests.

This discussion reminded me once again of Christ’s teaching in two passages that I often quote. In Luke He says “do not judge and you will not be judged. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye.” These words are repeated in Matthew with Christ’s additional comment that this kind of behavior comes from hypocrites. This is why I find it difficult to understand what is happening in many “Christian” churches today. If a Christian is following Christ’s example, how can the attitudes expressed toward people different than themselves possibly be a part of their belief. Christ was the most inclusive of any person who ever lived. He made friends with corrupt politicians, hypocritical clergy, the poorest of the poor, the despised foreigners, the criminals and the prostitutes. If I am a Christian, how can I do anything else.

I believe that the kind of hypocrisy that Christ identified is one of the factors that is turning people outside the church away from the church. Personally I have to worry about the ”plank in my eye” so much that I don’t feel that is necessary to look at the sawdust in my neighbor’s eye. If the wedding my friend saw was wrong, it is not my job to judge it. That is up to that couple and God. When the church is perceived as hypocritical and judgmental, people do not want to be a part of it.

Alice Crippen