Leaving the Judge’s Chair
We have a generational problem, and it didn't start in our generation or our parents’. It has been in every generation since the fall of man. We just can't seem to help ourselves. It doesn't seem to matter where you were born, and clearly it doesn't matter what political party you are a part of, or even if you claim to be independent. We just can't seem to stop our inclination to judge each other. Someone else's opinion or behavior is always worse than ours. And in the age of social media and instant news, this problem of ours is completely out of control.
People say and post and snap and tweet things that in previous generations no one would have considered saying out loud except behind closed doors and in their clubs where they knew there might be a similar opinion. I'm not sure we shouldn't just change the names of our social media apps. Maybe Facebook can be called Judgebook, Instagram, Instajudge, and Snapchat, Snapjudge. I'm basing my observation not just on what many commonly post or show in these social media apps, but also on the emotions and reactions we tend to have when we see and read them. We know it is true or we wouldn't all feel the need from time to time to abstain from looking because we know we need our media palate cleansed.
As Jesus was wrapping up his longest teaching in the gospels, he begins to summarize a bit as he closes his sermon, and when he does, he gets to this very problem. We just can't help but judge each other. Our tendency is to rotate through all the roles in a courtroom. Sometimes we prefer to be the victim, sometimes the witness, and other times the judge. And yes, sometimes we act as the perpetrator, but we do this very cautiously because it is the most unacceptable to others.
The only cure to our generational problem is to let Jesus change our heart. And the only way that can happen is if we are willing to get out of the judge’s chamber and let our Heavenly Father judge us. Here is the good news. When we surrender to Jesus, he steps in and takes our place before the Judge, and our verdict is based on Jesus and not on us. And when Jesus transforms our heart, then we can follow the instructions he gave us in his wonderful Sermon on the Mount. By his power, now we are free to not judge others, do for others what we want them to do for us, and chose the harder way and not the way of the crowd.
The best way to start today might be with the opening and closing line to the old familiar hymn:
“All to Jesus I surrender...
I surrender all.”
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Matthew 7:1-5, 12-14, 28-29 ESV
Photo by Pexels
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