Luke Parrott

Am I Judgmental?

"Do not judge or you too will be judged."  Matthew 7:1

When we judge others, we are condemning them.  We are cutting deeply at their hearts.  We are demeaning them as a person.  We our depriving them of their human dignity.  We are comparing them to ourselves and cutting them down to size.  We are attacking their worth.  We are, in essence, rejecting them.

When a Christian has learned not to judge or condemn, he has begun to taste a bit more of what it means to follow Jesus.  He has entered more of what the Kingdom of God is like.  He has become more like Jesus.

Jesus tells us to look at the board in our own eye before we point to the speck in our brother's eye.  The fact is that you can't help someone that you can not see.  And people who use judgment and condemnation as a means to correct someone are merely showing their own inability to see clearly.

Jesus never corrected people by tearing them down.  He knew that this would only hurt them more and cause them to move away from you.  Jesus corrected people for the purpose of restoring them, not belittling them.

To restore someone, we must approach them in a way that is honoring, loving, patient, and gentle.  When was the last time you changed your ways because it was forced on you or demanded of you?

We are a community that needs to learn how to follow Jesus in the way he corrected others.  We must let go of the judgmental attitude that we are so well known for.  We must take on the way of Jesus.  Paul echoes the correct attitude in Galatians 6:1 when he urges us to restore others gently and remember that we are vulnerable to the very same sins of our brothers.

To judge is to be unChristlike.

May we humbly ask our God to teach us how to correct others in love not condemnation.  For "there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus".

Handling Those Who Hate You

We've all got a few people (at the very least) out there who don't think too highly of us.  It's easy to fight fire with fire.  But I like to think of this question in terms of a bigger picture.

God.

He's got a bigger batch of haters than any of us.  What does he do?  I'm sorry to say that the answer is quite simple.  (Some of us would probably prefer a more complicated approach that involves multiple options for multiple situations.)

"For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust."  Matt 5:45b

It's one of those verses that we skim through on our way to the point Jesus is making.  But if you skim this one, you may have missed the very point he is making.  How does his Father handle enemies? He keeps doing the very same thing he has been doing.  The sun still rises on both his beloved and hated.  He stills blesses the one who betrays him.  He still loves his hater.

And so must it be with us. 

Love your enemies.  Anyone can love only people they like.  Anyone can do good to those who return the favor.  But a Jesus follower does not play the game fairly.  He loves when others love.  He loves when others hate.

He simply loves.

I like how Peter put it.  "The Lord...is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."

Or as Mika would say, "Everybody's gonna love today.  Gonna love today.  Gonna love today."

Even when it hurts.  Just remember that there is ONE who extends more love than you.  ONE who is more hated than you.  And this ONE hurts more than you and I could imagine.  Yet, He still loves.

Do Your Words Hold Their Weight?

Jesus said it this way:  "Do not swear at all...Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No', 'No'..."

It's amazing that Jesus thought to include this topic in what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. 

'I swear to God'
'It's the God honest truth'
'I promise'
'I swear on a stack of Bibles'

Why do we use these words? We try to add more weight or value to what we just said.  As if our words are not enough.  To use these phrases is, in one instance, blasphemous, but it is also a form of manipulation.  We are trying to get others to think our way but for some reason we can't convince them to think this way so we add weight to our words.

Jesus understood that humans should function in life giving truthful words to each other.  There should be weight and value to every word we say.  I like to think of it this way.  When your words leave your mouth are they received by others as a $1 bill or a pile of rocks?

Is there value in the words you say?  If so, than your words hold their weight and there is no reason to swear by anything.  Our words lose their weight when we don't follow through on commitments.  Trust is lost in others.  Our words are worthless.  They no longer hold their weight.

Make sure that your words hold value today.  Give someone a $1 bill with what you say.  Nobody appreciates a pile of rocks.  It makes them feel less human.

(only a certain type of humor will probably enjoy this pic)