Ever So Humble part 3
You know what I think is one of the funniest phrases in all of human history? "Don't judge me." Because that's pretty much all we do to everybody and everything all day every day. "That sandwich tasted good." "I didn't like that movie." Snap judgments that are based on first impressions. And sometimes, sure we go back and revise them. Sometimes we--or at least I--will go back and watch that movie again. And I can usually find something to like about it. Because first impressions aren't always correct. Let me say it another way: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). Jesus said that. Red letters. Which I always associated with being important. Whenever I would ask my Dad a theological question he would direct me to the red letters. And, admittedly, a lot of times I felt like Jesus' disciples. I had no idea what Jesus was talking about. But I think the biggest problem Jesus had with us judging things by appearance is that things are always more than they appear. And when we only look at the surface, we miss what's really going on. So now that I've said all that, I can make my point for today: Jesus didn't say don't judge things. Even when He said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged" in Matthew 7:1, He followed that up with, "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matthew 7:2). It was more of a warning about HOW you judge than a mandate to not judge. And if you're wondering what any of this has to do with being humble... so am I. Just kidding. I'm getting there. I think. (I hope.) Because when we make that snap judgment, when we judge by appearance, it really says more about US than it does about whatever we're judging. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. Bitter people can only give bitterness, and judge everything through the lense of bitterness. Hurting people can only hurt people and judge everything through the lense of their hurt. Once you've been hurt in a certain way--and I'm talking about deep, emotional pain--it seems like everything else stems from that wound. If you've been cheated on, you see cheaters everywhere. You can't judge righteous judgment from that place of bitterness, and pain, and betrayal, and hurt. And judging righteous judgment doesn't mean you sit on your high horse and get all self-righteous and put everyone else down. "Judging" righteous judgment really means EXECUTING the righteous judgment that God passed down from Father to Son on the cross. Not a death sentence, but an everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life sentence! And that's where being humble comes in. Its not thinking less of yourself, its thinking about yourself less. Its knowing that you are who you're supposed to be, and you have what you need to have. Because when you know who you are you can stop trying to be someone you're not. When you know what you've got you can stop trying to get something and you can give what you've got. When you judge--and you can, will, and do judge things all of the time--do it from a humble heart. From a place of helping, not hurting. Not from a place where I think I'm better than you, but from a place of me WANTING better for you. Seeing a need and meeting it. That's righteous. And that's what God did for us. So that's what we can do for each other!