Thoughts for Sunday
I was thinking about juding people today. I judged someone who walked into the cafeteria. She was dressed... not well. PJ shorts, sleep t-shirt. And I immediately came to the (reasonable) conclusion that she hadn't attended church, or that if she had, it was Bedside Baptist or Pillowy Presbyterian, or one such as those.
But then I confessed that I was judging her, and that I was no better for having gone to church than she was for NOT having gone. We're both still sinners, and we both have the opportunity to be reconciled. I don't know her, so I don't have any idea whether she's saved or not, but God loves us equally.
So then I started thinking about judging people. I think society lately has really grabbed on to this 'don't judge others' idea that the Bible commands us. Jesus said "Don't judge, lest you be judged... and by the same measure you judge others, you will be judged."
Anyhow, society has told us that it's not right to judge anyone ever. That's the latest greatest, post-modernistic theme. Someone is gay? Well, don't blame him! Someone mistreats his wife? Well, he must've have a bad childhood- we'll put him in therapy!
Sometimes we judge people too much.
Other times, we don't judge people enough.
Use common sense, folks.
I judged the worship music today. I wasn't really crazy about it. In the contemporary service, hardly anyone in the congregation (can we call it a congregation, or do we have to have some new, hip term for it?) sings at all. The songs are... shallow.
They're not unholy, and I'm not saying that I think the songs displease God. But there's a time in one's walk for fundamental, shallow, simple songs, and then there's a time for deep, comples, conceptual songs. I'm no longer a 5-year-old Christian; I prefer more complex songs.
"You lived
You died
You said in three days You would rise.
You did!
And You're alive!"
Praise the Lord that these words are very true! But at the same time, to sing this chorus verse three times in a row, with the last time slooow and mooody... that's just forcing a feeling that isn't there. Let's let the Holy Spirit do the whispering.
I run into an irony at church all the time. Supposedly, it's "okay" to raise your hands in the contemporary service. Yet it's always the old, convicting hymns of the OTHER service that make me want to raise my hands and praise Him!
But then I confessed that I was judging her, and that I was no better for having gone to church than she was for NOT having gone. We're both still sinners, and we both have the opportunity to be reconciled. I don't know her, so I don't have any idea whether she's saved or not, but God loves us equally.
So then I started thinking about judging people. I think society lately has really grabbed on to this 'don't judge others' idea that the Bible commands us. Jesus said "Don't judge, lest you be judged... and by the same measure you judge others, you will be judged."
Anyhow, society has told us that it's not right to judge anyone ever. That's the latest greatest, post-modernistic theme. Someone is gay? Well, don't blame him! Someone mistreats his wife? Well, he must've have a bad childhood- we'll put him in therapy!
Sometimes we judge people too much.
Other times, we don't judge people enough.
Use common sense, folks.
I judged the worship music today. I wasn't really crazy about it. In the contemporary service, hardly anyone in the congregation (can we call it a congregation, or do we have to have some new, hip term for it?) sings at all. The songs are... shallow.
They're not unholy, and I'm not saying that I think the songs displease God. But there's a time in one's walk for fundamental, shallow, simple songs, and then there's a time for deep, comples, conceptual songs. I'm no longer a 5-year-old Christian; I prefer more complex songs.
"You lived
You died
You said in three days You would rise.
You did!
And You're alive!"
Praise the Lord that these words are very true! But at the same time, to sing this chorus verse three times in a row, with the last time slooow and mooody... that's just forcing a feeling that isn't there. Let's let the Holy Spirit do the whispering.
I run into an irony at church all the time. Supposedly, it's "okay" to raise your hands in the contemporary service. Yet it's always the old, convicting hymns of the OTHER service that make me want to raise my hands and praise Him!
posted by Elmo at 10:14 AM
1 Comments:
I find a validation of "judge not that you be not judged" in myself often. i judge people alot, and i know it. i also know that when i have judged (always in the negative) then i sense the judgment of others when i become too weak to do judging myself.
tonight the words "response mechanism" come to mind. i feel as if i turn on a mechanism to cause me sensations of being judged as a consequence of my own judging.
people toss around judgment all the time, but by joining the crowd we become attune to their vocabulary.
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