January 3, 2010
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I have been called upon to wrestle with the difference between judgment and discernment. I suppose that they overlap to some degree. I think the Bible tells us that we are not to judge others, but that we are to be discerning. We are not to compare ourselves to others and think that we are better, but perhaps rather we are to compare ourselves with God's Word and and make adjustments accordingly. Any ideas?
Comments (9)
I think we are called to be fruit inspectors. "By their fruit ye shall know them." A pastor of mine used to say that if a boy with tattoos and piercings showed up at his door to pick up his daughter for a date and he could see the boys conversion van parked in the driveway, it was not judging the young man to say his daughter was not going out with him. It was discerning what was right versus what is wrong.
Hope that helps. I should be asleep.
Old Hat
We do judge, but not to condemnation. But among the bretheren the Bible tells us to help each other to walk His Path. But if we are judging, we had better be good in the area we are judging, or we too will be judged in that area. Yes, we discern as well. You might want to look up those words in a Strong's concordance to see if there are shades of meanings.
Heather
Who knows what is good or bad?
One of my Seminary profs said there are (at least) two types of judgment mentioned in the Bible. The type we are NOT to do is the kind where we look down upon another as if we are so much greater and they are far beneath us (one such example might be "Oh my goodness! He plays video games!? What a waste of time! He's completely disrespecting God, and he should be using that time serving the poor like I always try to do. Clearly, he should not get the position of missionary until he gets his priorities straight."). As Old Hat said, though, we ARE to be judges which use God's scale. If we say, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," and tell them it's God's standard, not ours... then we are simply telling them God's standard of measurement.
It's a fine line, but that's the general idea behind what he said. Judging them to make yourself look better, or holding them to a standard that you pass so that you can feel better about yourself or make them look worse -- that's wrong. It's not wrong to mention and hope they will hold up to God's standard, though. I'm pretty sure both examples, though, would only hold up to Christian/Christian judgment. If we use the measures of God against the non-Christian, then I don't think they apply the same way since they have no reason (based on their belief) to follow "arbitrary" rules of a God which they don't believe in. Saying, "What a stupid non-Christian!" because of such reasons is one such example of the first kind of judgment which we're not supposed to do.
God bless,
~Scott
@gelatinemonkey - Games...Ouch! I am spending too much time in Facebook Farmville, but it is a world that I can control at the moment, which feels good when there are so many things out of my control. I hate not being in control. Does that make me a control freak? Gotta cut those ol' apron chains...
@Ufbad - Some of what we know about good and bad is instinctive. Otherwise, you would have nothing to say if someone came up and punched you in the nose and took your wallet. Some of the other things about good and bad we and decide according to what is beneficial to us. Problem is, it may not benefit others and could even hurt them. God tells us what is good and bad in the Bible, and in our hearts by His Holy Spirit. I am glad that He wants us to know and tells us.
@usalapinhazzer -
What if you loosing your wallet keeps you from buying illegal narcotics off of an undercover cop later? What if your mugger uses the money to buy food for his starving family? How do you really know whether it is good or bad?
@Ufbad - First, I think we are operating in two different worlds here. Second, know that we are friends and that I would never say anything to intentionally offend you. I can only speak honestly and calmly from my heart, and I hope that you can accept that. Narcotics are illegal because they are generally recognized as harmful, addictive and destructive. (I wish that nicotene were illegal, too, because I have seen it damage and destroy the bodies of people that I love.) If someone dear to me got arrested for trying to buy illegal drugs I would thank God that he got caught and put on the road to getting his head straighted out. Why is the mugger's family starving? Is this a Jean Valjean sort of scenario? Is it ok to harvest the result of work that one has not done? Does the mugger feel good about having to stoop to victimizing others because he can't/won't support his family by working? If one gets to that point then one is really scraping bottom and on the level of a wolf going out to catch a rabbit for its brood. I would like to think that human beings operate on a higher level than that. You didn't really give an answer to the original problem. Would it be really be ok with you if someone punched you in the nose and took your wallet? If you answer "no," then you do know what is good or bad.
@usalapinhazzer -
Poop, I should have said Drugs or Psychoactives, not Narcotics. Well I wouldn't be ok with someone punching me in the nose and taking my wallet, but that doesn't make it not ok.
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