A Good Judge, or Too Quick to Judge?

First Impressions Not Final Conclusions

As I was walking over to the office this morning two disparate thoughts sat down side-by-side in my mind. I was thinking about something somebody said to me yesterday. I think he meant it as a compliment. I took it as such, even thought I'm not completely sure he is right. He told me that I'm good at reading people--making judgments as to whether someone is dependable, has good motives, that sort of thing.  The thought that began my cogitation had to do with an arm-full of stuff I was carrying, laptop, power cord, a really thick book, a couple of smaller ones, and a check that I wanted to be sure not to lose. Since my days as a freshman at Bremen Township High School, close to fifty-five years ago (back when only soldiers and boy scouts used backpacks), I have had the clear idea that guys carry stuff, like my collection this morning, one way, and girls another. Guys put the biggest flattest--in this case my laptop--thing on the bottom, and arrange the rest on top. Then they grab that big, flat thing by one edge, and carry it vertically at their side. their forearm will clamp the rest down. This leaves the other hand free for back-slapping, scratching, and other manly things.  Girls on the other hand hug their pile of books--assuming they can't get a guy to carry them (You independent women cut me some slack. I'm old-school.)--like a Teddy Bear. As is often the case, the female method has many advantages. Both arms share the load and books are much more secure. To this day, though, if I see a woman carrying a load "like a man," or a man carrying a stack of stuff "like a woman," my first impulse is, "That's odd." or, "I wonder if Bob has a sore arm?" or, "I don't want to mess with her today." I know that my barely adolescent first impression makes no sense, and my sixty-seven year-old self talks me out of it, but the reaction, like a preference for chocolate over vanilla, persists. Then I looked at the other thought, my friend's comment from yesterday. You can see where this is going, can't you? In our fast-paced world where first impressions are often the only impressions we have to work with, being able to size somebody up quickly is a great asset. BUT, But, but, we have to be careful and humble. Even if we are good at it--and in spite of my friend's compliment, I'm not all that sure I am--we need to not be overly quick to make that first impression our lasting conclusion. As I think back, I remember two preachers who made a very bad first impression on me. One I came to respect as one of the greatest preachers I ever heard. He inspired to be better at my craft. The other was my pastor for two years, and had a profound impact on my life. I'm glad those first impressions weren't my final conclusions. It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Losing In The End

Losing at the end

Years ago a world class bicycle race used some of the beautiful roads in the Alleghany Highlands as part of its course. I got up early and road out to where I could sit on the side of the road and watch the real riders go by. It was impressive, all the escort vehicles, the police, the officials on motorcycles, the camera crews, but most of all the incredible athletes on their state of the art bikes. I remember watching the lead rider go by. There was such an incredible gap between him and the peloton that I knew he was going to win. With a lead like that, I could have finished the race and won. After the peloton, the chase vehicles and rear police escort went by, I mounted my machine and pedaled home, wondering what it would be like for the guy I saw go by to be on the winner's stand. I turned on the TV in time to see the end of the race, and the guy with the insurmountable lead was caught in last couple of hundred yards and didn't even finish in the top 10. It reminds me of the Rich Fool. Actually, the one in the Bible is just one of many I have known. Before it really mattered it looked like he was winning, big time, but when the reckoning came . . . well, that's how he earned his name. David and Asaph knew a lot of rich fools, only like my sure winner in the bike race, they don't look foolish at all when you look at them early on. In Psalm 37, David, and in Psalm 73, Asaph, watched these guys fly by seemingly unstoppable. It's enough to make you wonder*. Turns out that the lead rider I saw go by was not only competing against the best cyclists in the world but against physics--cold, unrelenting, the-way-things-are science. One study I read said that riding in the peloton allows a rider to expend 40% less energy and still maintain the same speed. Maybe it's only 20 or 10%, still, that guy out in front just couldn't overcome that difference. In the end, he lost. There are spiritual realities that are every bit as solid--more so even--than the laws of resistance, momentum, aerodynamics, and inertia. Psalm 14 says "The fool says in his heart there is no God." One doesn't need to be a formal atheist to be guilty of that foolishness. Living as if God were not on His throne is sufficient. No matter how big their lead out on the course, that kind of fool will lose in the end. Jesus summarized it in a sober question,  “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36, NASB95) It's STTA (Something To Think About).  *Read David and Asaph's ponderings here.

Even a Tycoon of News Cannot Prevent News of His Death

The real FAIR & BALANCED:

Roger Ailes has been one of the most powerful forces in media for the past several decades. The motto of the news empire that he oversaw is "Fair and Balanced." Ailes died this morning. Clearly there is room for argument, especially with revelations that surfaced at the end of Ailes's life, as to whether his career modeled that motto. I'll leave that discussion to others more "pundit-y" than I. I am confident, though, that Ailes entered a realm where fairness is beyond dispute, and balance is Divine. Hebrews 9:27 declares, "[I]t is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment." The early chapters of Romans give us a great deal of information about the standard of the judgment God administers:  God's judgment is rightly directed. It is against "all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." We should not take false comfort in that, however, since Romans goes on to say that all have "sinned and fall short" (3:23). Impartiality is often held up as the standard of human justice. With Godit is clearly achieved. In Romans 3:9-20, words like "all," "none," and "no one;" and pronouns like "they" predominate. Chapter 2 and the first part of chapter 3 make clear that no group gets a pass. Jew and Gentile, religious and secular, educated and unlearned, all stand on level ground before God's tribunal. Ignorance of the law is not an acceptable defense in a human court. God, though, bases His judgment on what we know (Romans 2:12-16). It is as if the Lord will play the surveillance recording in our heart. As verse 19 says, "every mouth will be stopped." We'll know that there is nothing we can say. Most important to us, while God's judgment is sure, His grace and mercy are without limit. After establishing that all are guilty, the Apostle Paul goes on to show that just as all are guilty before the Lord, salvation is made available to all through faith in Christ (here).  I have conducted many funerals over a lifetime of ministry. I always did so knowing that I was not privy to the eternal destiny of the one being memorialized. When commenting on the afterlife of someone I have never met, like Ailes, that is even more-so. I do know that the God of the Universe will do what is right. Roger Ailes sought to inform, teach, and persuade us for decades. His death, like the end of every life, is a lesson we should heed. It's . . . STTA (Something To Think About).  Here is a different presentation of the Good News in Christ. You can find several ways to explore the Message of Grace here.

Get the beam out!

Something To Think About, Seeing Clearly:

If you were sitting on a hillside listening--in the same time and place--to Jesus Christ, God the Son, preach a sermon, would you dare laugh? I think it would be hard to suppress a chuckle when Jesus using masterful hyperbole and ruthless ridicule of some of the religious leaders of His day said:   “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3–4)     The scene is ludicrous.  Yet, ridiculous as it is, the cartoon is played out in real life every day.   "Guilty as charged."  says the STTA guy. Let's think about this lumber in the eye for a moment.  In the context of Jesus Sermon on the Mount, He identifies the species of fence post this way:   In Matthew 7:1 He introduces His point with these often misquoted, and more often misunderstood words.  "Judge not."  Those who cherry pick these words to use as a shield against any criticism neglect to note that Jesus goes on, in the same breath to condemn this 2x4 in the optical syndrome.  If one is to apply what Jesus says in the rest of the chapter he must exercise judgment.  Jesus does not say to ignore the speck in a brother's eye.  Clearly one reason we ought to rid ourselves of excess lumber is so our sight will be clear enough to actually help our brother who really does need to be rid of the splinter in his own eye.  (v.5)  If we are not to put holy things in the dog's dish or throw our pearls into the hog pen we must first recognize the sacred, properly identify the precious, and make a roster of dogs and hogs.  (v. 6) Those are highly judgmental activities.  I'll let you peruse the rest of the chapter.  You'll find a number of commands and exhortations that require the exercise of judgment.  Even the"Golden Rule," v. 12, requires one to decide, based on how one concludes he would want to be treated--surely in the context of the words of Christ this cannot be "if it feels good do it"--and then treat the other person that way.  What if they have a warped view of what is good and want to be treated differently?  The application of this very charitable principle can be highly judgmental. While Jesus is not giving a blanket condemnation of all judgment, He does come down hard on hypocritical judgment.  When I judge another based on a standard that I will not accept for myself I am on the wrong side of Christ's standard.  Like the Pharisees we have gotten good at this.  You can get some idea of how the Pharisees did this, by reading Matthew 23.  The Apostle Paul condemns a version of this in 2 Corinthians 10:12.  We get very good at hiding our worst faults, and shining a light on what we perceive as the faults of others.  We do the reverse about virtues.  We find ways to explain away our sin--it's different, there are extenuating circumstances, etc. etc.--while we allow no cover for others. The result is we end up attempting the delicate procedure of removing splinters from eyes, with our vision grotesquely blocked with enough wood to build a porch.   It's STTA.

Something To Think About, My Record:

One of the current scandals--real or manufactured, depending on one's perspective--has to do with a private email server.  I confess, I'm old enough that the word "server" conjures up this: Not this: A server is just a computer.  I know people who work on them.  I don't understand the process, but I know servers are integral links between my computer and yours, enabling you to read this email.  I figure the average life-span of an STTA, on your device, is about half the time it takes to read it.  You can't afford to waste memory space storing my daily musings.  But those servers have--warning, I'm going to use a technical term, here--a whole bunch of storage space.  As I understand it, servers that serve government and business systems are set up to store and catalog all emails.  So I figure somewhere in the bowels  of some server farm every something I ever thought about is resting comfortably on a hard drive.   That brings me back to the current scandal or "scandal."  The theory is:  "If I own and maintain my own server I can make it harder for authorities to lay cyber-hands on my emails, tweets, and vacation pictures."  "Foul!" cries the other side.  Apparently the new standard is that public officials are to live in completely glass houses.  In fact it looks to me like the standard includes a requirement to leave the lights on and provide benches for the comfort of the digital voyeurs. It's really nothing new.  Two millennia ago Jesus said,  “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36–37, NASB95)   It is a server that cannot be hacked or erased.  The power supply will not be compromised. A few years ago I carried on regular communication with someone living in a land where the government carried on regular surveillance of emails and phone-calls, especially communications to and from "subversives," as they regarded my friend.   I gave a lot more thought to the emails I sent.  I avoided certain words.  Questions that would attract the interest of the authorities went unasked, or were embedded in "code" language.  I need to bring that level of awareness to all my communications; I need to be daily aware that all my words remain behind.   Are they kind? Do they build others up? Are they true? Are they wholesome? It looks like to me that the current brouhaha--Servergate?--will result in every bit and byte, on every hard drive concerned, being not only read but analyzed, dissected, time-stamped, and discussed.  Any attempt to hide will only cause the wattage of the searchlights to go up. Be that as it may, it is absolutely clear that nothing I say will be hidden from the Lord.  I'm a fool if I try.  What is wise is to heed the song many of us learned as toddlers:   "O Be Careful Little Mouth What You Say." It's STTA While we will give an account for our words and actions--Bad News.  The Lord forgives--Good News.  Here is a site where you can find out about Jesus Christ and His plan for you.  You'll find several opportunities to explore.  If we can help you, let us know.  covingtonbiblechurch.com