Judgment

I was thinking about how we view or judge things in life and I realized that more frequently, we tend to judge things based on other’s implementation of the thing versus judging the thing based on what the thing claims itself to be. The word judgment here is not intended to be negative; I use it to refer to the opinion I hold, the view or attitude I have, towards a thing.

It is natural that my initial judgment of a thing is based on other’s implementation of it because usually that will be my first exposure to it (parents, friends, relatives, etc.). However, the mistake I often make is that I continue to keep my same judgment of that thing without really looking at it carefully to see what the thing says about itself.

Let me use Christianity as an example (and it is where this thought comes from). One’s first exposure to Christianity might be from parents or friends. And depending on how they practice it, one’s opinion could be positive or negative towards it. (My dad’s practice of Christianity is quite negative.) But does one stop there? (And in the past, I have stopped there.) If I see a bunch of Christians (or even a Christian) being hypocritical, do I dismiss the whole belief system as stupid? It certainly might be, but first, what does the thing say about itself? What does Christianity have to say about itself? Where do I find that? I must carefully go through a process of identifying the real source and definition of the thing and then learn what it really says about itself. In this example, I find what Christianity is in the Bible, not in a pastor’s sermon or in the implementation of its people (though it would be nice if both would match).

So, if I want to know what Christianity is, I need to look at Christ – what does He say about Himself? What does He do? What does He ask? Are those things different from the practice I see? If so, then the practice of the thing is flawed, the thing itself might not be flawed. When one sees a building under construction and thinks there is a flaw in it, where should one go? Check the architectural plans. Does the construction match the design? If not, it is hardly the fault of the architect!

The other concept that I forget frequently is that the practice of the thing is much harder than it looks and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense from the outside. And it won’t. I can look at a building under construction and think, “What the heck are they doing?” But unless I’m on the construction crew and participating in the building’s construction, it probably won’t. “Love God with all your heart” sounds great, but try “ruling the world” (to quote Princess Bride). It’s tough stuff! Let me close with a quote from C.S. Lewis:

“If you are worried about people on the outside [of Christianity], the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself. Christians are Christ’s body, the organism through which He works. Every addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them. Cutting off a man’s fingers would be an odd way of getting him to do more work.” (Mere Christianity)