Wednesday, February 20, 2019

““Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37, The New Living Translation)

                For the first time ever, I have been summoned for jury duty toward the end of March.  I am curious although I am told by others who have done it that it can be a long, tedious process and one might not even get to be chosen in the end. Nevertheless, I am keenly interested in what goes on.

                The accompanying letter to my summons argues that this is my civic responsibility. It also warns me what might happen if I try to shirk it off.  So, I will toddle off and go from there. Maybe I will get to sit on a real juicy case of some kind.

                It is a serious onus to be on a panel of people whose task it is to judge another human being, regardless of what the charge or accusation may be against them. The decision which a jury makes has major and often long-term consequences upon the individual who is under such severe scrutiny.  It is not to be taken lightly.

                 As a Christian I am also beholden to core values such as the forgiveness of others, the avoidance of passing quick and narrow-minded judgment, treating others as I would be treated, turning my other cheek even in the face of violence against me.

                But I would argue that we have become a very judgmental culture and in so doing we have become a very unforgiving and hard-hearted society. We have become skeptical or dubious of apologies and admissions of guilt. We hold on to grudges, mistakes, sins, and embrace these accusations, allegations and even true facts as permanent, life-time charges against those who have committed the deeds. There are few second chances today. And I understand that mere simplistic apologies can’t and won’t fix the terrible atrocities that some have experienced in their past but that doesn’t mean we should never try.

                But it is hard, isn’t it, to determine that fine line between choosing forgiveness and tolerance and choosing not to accept bad behaviour, sinful actions, immoral conduct and serous crime.

To be honest, there have been times when I would just as soon let God or Jesus do the judging. They are far very better equipped to do it than I ever could or would. But neither does that or Jesus’ guidelines take me off the hook as to what it means to face wrongness, sinfulness, atrocities, the mistreatment of others, social ills and those who violate cultural taboos. I can’t bury my head in the sand and hope I never get some sort of existential “jury duty” in the world in which I live. Don’t treat evil with more evil but don’t let it get hold or win the day either. These are not facile choices. They really matter to me and to others whom I face. It makes a difference how I apply judgment in people’s lives.

At best, when faced with these real-life dilemmas, I simply need to take Jesus’ words to heart: “Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.” (John 7:24, NLT) Or from the Gospels, I need to pay better attention to these words: “It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.” (Matthew 7: 3, The Message Bible)

On a much more mundane or ordinary level, in the corners and edges  of the world in which we regularly live, in our homes, neighbourhoods, churches and communities, trying to create a decent community, fostering relationships,  building harmony and togetherness, Jesus’ words make a lot of practical, everyday sort of sense: "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults - unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don't condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you'll find life a lot easier.” (Luke 6:37, The Message Bible)  

Dale