Judging a Person By the Content of His Circumstances

Suggested Reading: Job 42:1-6

Human beings have always had a tendency to judge people based on their circumstances. We see a homeless person under a bridge, and we wonder how lazy or crazy he had to be to wind up there. We see a corporate executive who brings home a seven-figure salary, and we wonder who he stepped on to get there. We see a person whose spouse just left them, and we wonder what they did to drive their spouse away. Hundreds of other examples exist. Every day, we engage in this behavior, judging people from a very superficial look at their circumstances. Even the wisest and godliest among us do it. And then we complain about it when we are on the receiving end of that judgment.

The Book of Job is a very long, detailed account of how Job was judged in just that way. God allowed Job to lose everything in a single day but never revealed the reasons for the loss to the people involved. Job lost his fortune and his family in one swift stroke and then lost his health as well. The only thing that Job retained was a wife, who told him to curse God and die, and three friends. These three friends, very admirably, sat silently with Job for three days while he mourned the death and devastation that had struck him. But then they spoke up, urging Job to confess whatever great sin he had committed that forced God to take everything away. To the reader, of course, the great irony is that Job was struck with devastation not because Job was a great sinner but because Job was so faithful to God.  But for 34 chapters, Job's friends accuse Job of sin while Job maintains his innocence and pleads for God to reveal his reasons for such destruction.

The most powerful part of the story for me, is the last five chapters when God responds, first, to Job and then to Job's friends. God spends four chapters pointing out a human being's inability to comprehend the ways of God while never giving Job answers for why he was made to suffer. The response, though, is enough for Job. The very fact that God was speaking to Job was enough, and the experience allowed Job to experience God in a new way. "I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes" (Job 42:5, NLT).  But then God turns to Job's judgmental friends and expresses his anger at them for their assumptions and their lies, insisting that they will only be acceptable to God once Job prays and sacrifices on their behalf.

We know the rest of the story. Job's fortune and family again grow, and he ends up with twice as much as he had before.  But the lessons of the story are clear. 1) You never know why God allows you to go through terrible hardship; sometimes, God allows it because you are righteous, not because you are sinful. And 2) never judge someone based on their circumstances. We can only tell so much about a person by looking at their circumstances. Sometimes, people are directly responsible for their circumstances, and other times, they have no control over them, and only occasionally do we know which is which.  

So the next time you see someone's circumstances (even your own) and begin to make assumptions about them, stop. Don't judge based on circumstances. Look at a person's character and deeds and maintain your own integrity. In the end, God and God alone can judge a person. Don't try to take God's place.

Judging Believers More than Bombers

Suggested Reading: 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

The 2013 Boston bombings stirred up a lot of feelings for people. The fact that those bombings were once again committed by Islamic Jihadists upset many people. More than once I heard people lament that, in their opinion, moderate Muslims had not spoken up enough to condemn acts of violence committed in the name of their religion, that their alleged silence not only condoned these heinous acts but encouraged future atrocities. Whether those complaints had much merit or were simply voiced by people who hadn't listened to Muslim condemnations of the violence is a matter that could be debated at length, but the issue itself points to a problem within the Christian community, especially in America.

American society, and much of the American church has taken Jesus' and James' call to refrain from judging people and applied it everywhere but in the appropriate context. Why do I say this? Because of what Paul also has to say in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13: I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world. But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? But God judges outsiders. Put away the evil person from among yourselves (HCSB).

Jesus and Paul had two different contexts as Paul makes clear in the opening verses of this passage. We are not supposed to judge the people of this world, no matter how sinful their behavior appears. We cannot hold outsiders to the same standards to which we would hold ourselves. We are supposed to provide loving witnesses to those people so that nothing we do will keep them from coming to God. But for believers, the standard is entirely different. We are supposed to hold believers (or those who claim to be) to a higher standard. When we see them living in ways that are consistently opposed to the teachings of Christ we are to let everyone know that they don't represent us and to have nothing to do with them until they get their acts straight. Not because we are better than them or above them, but because condoning their sinful behavior with our silence and acceptance provides a very bad witness to the people we are trying to reach.

We are not supposed to judge sinners. We are supposed to love them. Sometimes that means loving them enough to condemn the actions of those who should know better so that the damage to the Church's witness is minimized. Remember, even Jesus judged the religious people of his day for their hypocrisy.

You're Not the Boss of Me!

Suggested Reading: James 4:7-12

One of the struggles parents can face is teaching their children about the different roles that must be played in life. Children understand this concept of differing roles instinctively but do not always know where the boundaries for those roles lay or when they should play those roles. So they sometimes do things that they shouldn't be doing in their role as children. This fuzzy understanding is where the phrase "you're not the boss of me!" comes from. Children understand the role of the boss in theory, but one of the children has either decided to be the boss or is doing things that should be reserved for a person in authority, like setting down rules or issuing commands. Variations include, "You're not my father!" and "Who made you king?" These phrases are all indications of either a disagreement about the boundaries of a role or whether someone should actually be playing that role.

James points out one area where Christians tend to get in trouble for playing a role that doesn't belong to us. James writes, Don't criticize one another, brothers. He who criticizes or judges his brother criticizes the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:11-12, HCSB). James points out that judging someone - or even criticizing them - is to take on a role that doesn't belong to us: Lawgiver and Judge, a role that belongs only to God. In the following chapter, however, James encourages his readers to turn back those who have strayed. How can we do this without judging or criticizing? We make sure we are playing the proper role.

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge. We are not to play either of those roles. We can, however, play the role of fellow children, trying to keep each other out of trouble.  We can go to people, not in judgment, but because we love them and don't want them to get hurt. Those two approaches are very different. One places you in a position of authority over the other person, and is likely to make them respond, "You're not the boss of me!" The other places you in a position alongside the other, where no one is making demands and where they have the option of listening to you or not. One position comes from a misplaced feeling of self-importance and the other flows out of loving concern for a fellow child of the Father.  We have no place playing lawgiver or judge, criticizing people and pointing out faults. We can, however, love people enough to try to help them stay out of trouble.

Who have you criticized lately? How can you play the role of a fellow child rather than judge and lawgiver?

Helping Lex Luthor Send His Dad to Prison

Suggested Reading: 2 Kings 5:14-27 (or read the whole story: 2 Kings 5)

In the television series Smallville, before Lex Luthor became a full-fledged villain, he tried to send his dad to prison for murder. Clark Kent had witnessed some things that would help convict the elder Luthor but Lex was worried he would not appear to testify because Lex and Clark had gotten into a fight. When Clark showed up to testify, Lex tried to thank him but Clark rebuffed his gratitude saying, "I didn't do this for you." The implication was clear: Clark testified because putting Lionel Luthor in jail for murder was the right thing to do, not because Lex deserved his help.

In 2 Kings 5, the prophet Elisha helped to heal an Aramean soldier named Naaman. The soldier was immensely grateful and wanted to give Elisha a gift but the prophet refused to accept anything. As Naaman and his entourage left, Elisha's servant Gehazi watched them go without understanding the exchange. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said to himself, “My master should not have let this Aramean get away without accepting any of his gifts. As surely as the Lord lives, I will chase after him and get something from him" (2 Kings 5:20, NLT). While Elisha was concerned with what accepting the gifts would say about God and his miracles, Gehazi was concerned about whether Naaman deserved to be healed without paying (and with getting something for himself).  The focus of each man was different and Gehazi simply didn't understand Elisha's mindset.

Quite often, we simply don't understand why in the world people do what they do. Why does he let her get away with that? Why doesn't she speak up for herself? Why won't he call her on her crap? Why won't she leave him? Every day we encounter people who act in ways that make no sense to us. Sometimes we are Elisha wondering rightfully how Gehazi could be so selfish but sometimes we are Gehazi, so wrapped up in our own desires and so focused on the wrong things that we miss motivations that should be obvious. Lex should have known Clark would show up because it was the right thing to do. And Gehazi should have known Elisha would never accept a gift for performing a miracle of God.

When we just don't get why people are acting the way they are, there is probably an angle we haven't considered. Before we go off about how unreasonable or unrealistic someone is, we should first consider our own mindset to make sure we're not acting like a Gehazi.