Scripture: Romans 2:3 – “Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God?” (NRSV)
Imagine that you have just passed the bar exam. You have spent the last three years or more in intense, mind-numbing study of the law, its precedents, permutations, and possibilities. You have developed a legal philosophy of the best way to argue the law and apply it to life both personal and professional. And for the sake of argument, let us say that you are trained as a prosecutor, trying to bring the guilty to justice rather than a defender, trying to argue for the innocence of your client regardless of their actual deeds.
Now imagine that you cannot use that knowledge of the law for anyone but yourself. Putting aside financial concerns, think of how frustrating that would be. To know everything people are supposed to do and how they are supposed to do it but to be unable to judge them for breaking it. This is in many ways what it means to be a Christian.
Through our faith and our study of the wisdom of Jesus and the Bible, we have been taught the right way to live. We know God’s will and we can see the disasters that occur when we ignore what God has instructed us. We try so very hard to the do the right things, to be humble and forgiving and generous of our time, talents, and treasures, but other people do not. They harm others out of insecurity or ignorance. They line their own pockets through the suffering of others, sometimes on a global scale. And yet in the face of all this stupidity and evil, we are instructed not to judge.
I think there are two reasons for this. First is that as much as we know about God’s commandments and whatever virtues we have cultivated we are not perfect. We still stumble around in ignorance or slip into temperamental behavior and make our own little mistakes which add up into making the world less wonderful. The other is that when we focus on the imperfections of others, we ignore the mistakes in ourselves that we realistically can avoid and fall into defensive patterns of self-righteousness that cut us off from loving others and even God.
However, we are not quite like that fictional lawyer I described above, for while we are not able to judge others, we are able to teach them, especially through our own examples. We cannot save the world, but we can save this moment, and if we can focus on what we can do to make each moment count, we may slowly tip the scales of justice back to the side that God wants them to be on. It can be hard to repay cruelty with kindness, but many times it is the best way to fight for justice.
Prayer: God help us to forgive others as you have forgiven us and grant us the strength to seek ever for the best in people. Amen.
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