Softly Whispered: Lest we judge

At particular times, I assume things, people, situations.. assumptions that come from my own judgement and opinion-- which we all know can be spurious and misleading. I mean, not only mine, but when we think of the word 'assume', what do we think of? The word itself means that we're concluding a verdict without tangible proof. Usually assumptions are made of one's thoughts and observations.. not a factual evidence that's been proven to be true.
Honestly, I've been guilty over this matter. I'm going to be forthright and tell you that all this time, my current perception on a certain person has been distorted, simply because of what my thoughts were telling me about this person. I know we've had rough patches along the way, but somehow, slowly, I'm being consumed by chattering teeth and jabbering mouths around me, and little by little, it's altering my point of view on this person.. in a negative way.

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I feel like a hypocrite. I keep telling people to guard their mouths and actions, yet I, myself, am having this problem with someone whom I dearly love and care about.

This made me think about how non-Christians inspect Christians from their goggles. Are they seeing fundamental hypocrites or are they seeing genuinely loving, caring individuals who want to make the world a better place? One of our biggest problems as Christians is that we often speak too soon, while shutting our eyes and covering our ears with both our palms. Sometimes we refuse to see or hear because we're too busy to express what we know. Not to mention, half the things we do/say in church don't even reflect our daily lives. We may think we know so much, when in reality, we are the ignorant ones -- the less knowledgeable. David Kinnaman writes in his book: "Christianity has become bloated with blind followers who would rather repeat slogans than actually feel true compassion and care." (pg. 15).

Don't get me wrong on this. I, with no doubt whatsoever, am a firm believer and follower of Christ, who is passionately interested in The Living One. In spite of that, I dislike the idea that this world has placed on the word 'Christian'. Many people today view Christians as hyper-spiritual, goodie-two-shoes back-stabbers who judge others and tend to slip from their 'churchful' words. From the bottom of my (currently) honest heart, I just want to point out that we, as Christians will only keep polluting the world if we continue to speak without acting on what we preach. Non-Christians who are yet to know who Jesus is won't just listen to our bogus words about some God they don't know. Without actions to back us up on our words, they will mean nothing.

I mean, who are we to look down on the adultresses? Who are we to despise and be intimidated by homosexuals? Who are we to scorn the alcoholics? Who are we to look at these people differently? WHO ARE WE TO JUDGE AT ALL??! We, Christians aren't even any better than the prostitutes, homosexuals, trans, drunkards, beggars.. We're not. Who are we to even hate George Bush? Believe it or not, at one time or another, we've actually been little George Bushes in our own communities. Even The King of kings, the Lord of all highest lords love them the same. We're not God and we still judge. Who are we??!! It doesn't matter how small or infrequent we sin; we're just as bad one way or the other. We all need Jesus to be saved and forgiven. Matthew 7:1-5 says, 1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

I, as one of the millions of people who claim to be Christian, would like to apologize for the inconsistency in my words and actions. I have been one of the many who have marred the image of Christianity. Christianity is supposed to be all about love because God himself IS love (1 John 4:16). Yet in our world today, there's been a lot of unnecessary things added to it.. that aren't even supposed to be there. I'm sorry that I haven't shown enough love. I'm sorry if I have judged and mistreated you. I'm sorry that I feel bad for the oppressed and less fortunate, yet still do nothing about them. I'm sorry that bad things about other people still occasionally ring on my mouth. I'm sorry that we have been "mini-converters" who are desperately trying to "convert" people into our 'circle'.

It really breaks my heart to see how the notion of Christianity has now been corrupted with fallacious concepts. In the bible, where does it say that we can reject the homosexuals? Does it make a clear statement that we could disdain the adultresses or the alcoholics, the cheaters, the liars, the thieves..? Jesus forgave them all. Back then, prostitutes were considered the lowest of the lowest in their hierarchical system. Most of them died by stoning. But when one came to Jesus and repented her sins, she was forgiven straight away. Not the day after, not an hour later, but immediately. It's because we, Christians sometimes feel like we're superior.. we're above everyone else.. with our faith and all. It's true that we've been saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), but instead of embracing it with joy and love, we take pride in that-- a kind of self-admiration. We must always remember that we didn't receive grace because of who we are or what we did.. but by the unconditional love of Christ. And if Christ loves all, then why shouldn't we??

Let us do a reality self-check by asking ourselves this question: am I loving enough? Am I being a brother/sister to my friends who need me? Do I show enough compassion to the hurting, broken, and lost? Are people seeing Jesus Christ in the way I live my life? In 1 John 4:20, it says: "If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." From here, we can look into our full-body mirror and examine ourselves.. am I truly living in love? Or am I just living by my human judgments?

As for my case, I'm in the last position to assume or judge. I'm sorry if I have previously judged or hurt my fellow brothers or sisters in Christ. From now on, I invite all of us, including those who are non-Christian to minimize your judgments and start (if you haven't) spreading love to ALL mankind. No more assumptions, no more judgments. The only person who has absolute authority to judge us is The Mighty Lamb who sits on the throne of heaven. As Christians, our job is to show the love of God to those who haven't seen/felt it; to let them see Jesus shine in our lives.