Is it ever OK to judge someone? I listened to a sermon on judging this week, and the speaker made what I thought was a really good distinction between what he called “judging” and “testing.”
The Bible typically has two definitions for the word “judge.” The first is the one we think of when we think of judgemental people. Judge not lest ye be judged. But the second had more to do with “testing,” or being careful what you accept.
We all agree, I’m sure, that judging in the judgemental sense is wrong. But “testing,” or using good judgement, is quite alright. Take, for example, John Belushi’s Animal House character. You don’t know him, so you can’t judge him as a person. On the other hand, if you found out your daughter was dating him, you would be well within your rights to “test” whether or not he is someone you want your daughter spending time with. Or at least I am sure you would want her to test whether or not he was going to be worth her while!
So where do you draw the line between “judging” and “testing?” According to the speaker, it has to do with what he calls your “realm of responsibility.” You shouldn’t judge him because he’s not within your realm of responsibility. But if he wants to date your daughter, she’s within your realm of responsibility so testing his character is almost required of you as a parent.
Christians can be a judgemental lot. But many times, I think, we’re accused of being judgemental when really we’re just using our own best judgement. There is nothing wrong with testing, and rejecting, ideas. Christians and atheists alike do it all the time. But when it devolves into judging the people with those ideas, that’s when we’ve gone too far.
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Mike O | 6 Comments »Often times when I’m listening to Christian teachings, I wonder whether atheists would accept it readily as I do. I wonder how someone with a completely different world view would see it.
Solomon is considered to be the wisest man who ever lived. I’ve always accepted the book of Proverbs as sound, common sense advice - obvious, even. I still do. But would irreligious people agree?
What follows is a story Solomon tells about the dangers of promiscuity. When you read this, instead of seeing Solomon looking out the window at some unknown youth, see yourself looking out at your own son or daughter. Would your counsel differ from Solomon’s? Read the rest of this news item »
The question of how to describe “the spiritual” purely in physical terms is one that has been rumbling around in my head for several weeks now. In My Deconversion Story, Karen made the comment
Yet I clung to the memory of several spiritual experiences I’d had in my life that seemed very real to me. But as I examined each of them (maybe half a dozen) in my memory, I also examined possible alternate explanations. Had god really been talking to me during prayer, or was it my own subconscious chiming in? Was the sense of transcendence I felt during certain worship services really supernatural, or was it an emotional reaction - one that I also felt at great concerts and touching poetry readings?
In other unrelated posts Jason has said that spiritual, to him, means a general sense of awe or wonder that we can experience in nature, for example.
And to me, a Christian, the spiritual obviously means so much more than that.
So I keep coming back to the question, “Is it possible to describe the spiritual in physical terms?” My initial reaction to that statement was that it was not possible - the spiritual and the physical are completely different - “like TV and radio” is how I put it at one point. I didn’t think it could be explained, but the more I think about it, the more I think I can! Read the rest of this news item »