INTRODUCTION

    Recently in Cleveland, Ohio, the Methodist Church held it's annual conference, voting on various issues to determine what the response of their church would be. Of course, one of the issues was homosexuality. Now, I'm not going to go into what the Church teaches, we all know what it is, and, hopefully, why. But what I found interesting was a group of people, reportedly Christian, protesting the homosexuals, protesting the Methodist's vote to still consider it a sin. According to reports, the signs and language used by these protesters was filthy and hate filled. (To be fair to them, if all they said was 'Repent', it would probably be considered hateful.)

    But we do know that such things occur. The fellows who killed Matthew Shepherd did commit a hateful and violent act. Did they do it because of the hateful 'Christian' teaching they'd received? Personally, I doubt it, more than likely it was used as a convenient excuse. The thing is, every side of almost every issue has it's 'excuses' as to why what they do is right and the other is wrong.

    My mother had, what I called, the Three Finger Rule. It worked like this. When you point your finger at anyone for anything, remember that three more fingers are pointing back at you. On one hand, someone might think that this was another way to say, "Judge Not!" But in reality, it was a simple way to remind me, that I'm not perfect. (I think I tried to use the Judge not ploy with my mother one time and caught her wrath in trying such a lame ploy)

    On a recent "48 Hrs" they did a story about a wife and mother who, after getting everyone off to school or work, went to work on her personal X-rated web page. When asked what her response to those who said what she was doing was wrong would be, she responded, "Judge not, lest ye be judged." I guess that was supposed to silence her critics into silence. But is that the full story? Is that the final word? Does the three finger rule mean we have to be quiet and let people do their own thing without comment?

    "Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Where is Abel your brother?' He said, 'I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?'" (Genesis 4:9). I guess if the 'Judge not's' are correct, then the answer is no. But that isn't the case is it?

    I should point out that this is not a modern phenomenon, but one that has been with us from the beginning. "As yet Francis did not preach sermons to the people they met; nevertheless in passing through towns and castles he exhorted all men and women to fear God and to do penance for their sins….When the people heard them, they said: "Who are these men, and why do they speak like this?" (Legend of the Three Companions, Chap. IX, #34, St. Francis of Assisi; Omnibus of Sources, pg. 922)

    God gave us rules to live by, each of us, being our brother's keeper, in order to help them. Leviticus 18 (often misused) covers adultery, incest, fornication (pre-marital sex relations), homosexuality, and bestiality (sex with animals). "Do not defile yourselves by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am casting out before you defiled themselves; and the land became defiled, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants... For whoever shall do any of these abominations, the persons that do them shall be cut off from among their people. So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs which were practiced before you, and never to defile yourselves by them: I am the LORD your God" (Leviticus 18: 24-25; 29-30).

    Those who did, and continued to do, these things were to be cut off from the community. The Jews of Jesus' time felt this meant stoning them, and some today use it to justify beating or killing those who commit sin. But is this the case? "The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?' This they said to test Him, that they might have some charge to bring against Him. Jesus bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask Him, He stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.' And once more He bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him" (John 8: 3-9).

    What is of interest here is that Jesus is not rebuking them for accusing her of adultery, she did commit it. He doesn't even point out their hypocrisy by pointing out that they didn't bring the man who committed it with her. Is this a case of "Judge Not…."? No, they 'judged' her correctly, where they made their mistake in taking on themselves the duty of condemning. "Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such." Either they were mistaken or it was a convenient excuse. "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." The 'three finger rule' in action. Why isn't this a case of judge not? Because they weren't wrong in their judgment of the sin she committed.

    When we hear someone use Christ's teaching, "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get" (Matthew 7: 1-2) They forget, or ignore, what else Christ taught, "Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him" (Luke 17: 3-4).

    Now, either Christ is guilty of hypocrisy, or we have misunderstood what He meant by 'Judge Not'. Christ said; "You judge according to the flesh, I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, My judgment is true, for it is not I alone that I judge, but I and He Who sent Me" (John 8: 15-16). And "I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness. If any one hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; the Father who sent Me has himself given Me commandment what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden Me" (John 12: 46-50).

    Christ didn't come to judge the world, that will come later. No, He came to act as a light to the world, to give God's commands to all men. He came to call all men to repentance. "And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?' But when He heard it, He said, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners'" (Matthew 9: 11-13).

    Christ wasn't sanctioning, or approving the sinner of their sin, but rather, was trying to call them to repentance. It was not a case of judging them as to whether they were condemned, it wasn't the time for judging whether they were going to Heaven or hell. No, He was judging their actions, their sin. Again, if Christ meant "Judge Not" as we often hear it used, then He was guilty of hypocrisy by 'judging' those who desired to stone the adulteress.

    Let's look at the full teaching of Christ in regards to 'Judge Not'. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see 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,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (Matthew 7:1-5).

    We can't go around as 'holier than thou's', we have to acknowledge that we too are sinners. We have to recall that we have 'three fingers' pointing back toward us. Let's consider "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to Heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18: 10-14).

    The Pharisee here was judging everyone but himself, in fact, if nothing else, he was guilty of the sin of pride. But the tax collector knew his sin, and sought forgiveness. Would the collector have known his sin if no one told him or was told it wasn't a sin?

    Christ taught. "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Church; and if he refuses to listen even to the Church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector" (Matthew 18:15-17)

    Pretty harsh words for someone who supposedly taught 'Judge Not'. In fact, we have heard it before; "Do not defile yourselves by any of these things by which the nations whom I am driving out of your way have defiled themselves. Because their land has become defiled, I am punishing it for its wickedness, by making it vomit out its inhabitants. You however, whetehre natives or resident aliens, must keep My statutes and decrees forbidding all such abominations by which the previous inhabitants defiled the land; otherwise the land will vomit you out also for having defiled it, just as it vomited out the nations before you. Everyone who does any of these abominations shall be cut off from among his people. Heed My charge, then, not to defile yourselves by observing the abominable customs that have been observed before you. I, the Lord, Am your God" (Leviticus 18: 24-25; 29-30).

    By refusing their call to repentance, and being regarded as gentiles and tax collectors, they're being 'cut off from the people', the Church. We also read: "My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins" (James 5: 19-20).

    If judge not is the key phrase, how could James write this? So, it isn't so much that we don't or can't judge actions, only their final judgment. We don't know the state of their heart, their conscience. Is it alive and informed? Wounded? Uninformed? Or dead?

    The Church teaches that among the spiritual works of mercy are: Counsel the ignorant, Instruct the ignorant, and admonish the sinner. How could the Church call them works of mercy if Christ's big teaching was 'Judge Not'? Because, when we do these things, we must first and foremost be like the tax collector and say 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' We must not ignore the log in our own eye while pointing out the specks in others.

    Just as an aside. It is interesting to note that those who push the 'Judge Not' ideology often, in fact, break it themselves. They, in fact, refuse to see the three fingers pointing back at them. How often is the Church called judgmental, backward, etc. Isn't this a judgement on their part? Aren't we, often, condemned for holding to the teachings of the Church? But we can only do what we can. If, in trying to help others, we are accused of being hurtful, we must understand their pain. We must recall our own sins and know how difficult it is for us to get away from them. When Christ walked the earth as a man, He had one advantage, I feel. He is God and His words, His teachings were taught with authority. No one could easily dismiss them. We don't have that advantage. We teach, exhort, rebuke, as one sinner to another, so approach the sinner with compassion and understanding. "For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get."

    How can we ask for compassion and understanding if we do not give it? But neither can we just let it go. "And He said to His disciples, 'Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin" (Luke 17: 1-2).

    And the Church teaches us that we cooperate with the sin of another by causing it through advice or counsel and consent (Don't worry, that's how God made you), and/or by approving of it by defense of it, praise of it, or concealment or silence. If we do not tell them, we are guilty of participating in it by remaining silent. So, to remain silent to sin because we don't want to 'judge' them, we don't do any good for them or ourselves.

    But, once again, do it while remembering that three fingers are pointing back at you.

Pax Christi,

June 12-13, 2000
volume 11, no. 107
Pat Ludwa's VIEW FROM THE PEW

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