To put this in perspective, when you introduce yourself to a neighbor, and you mention your faith, chances are he or she will think you are judgmental.
Equally alarming was the stat that 53% of young Christians (16-29) believe that the label judgmental accurately fits present-day Christianity.
All of this goes to show that in our world today, how we communicate is as important as what we communicate.
Are Christians Judgmental?
What defines being judgmental. Can you disagree with someone and not be judgmental?
It is interesting that being judgmental in our society has come to mean disagreeing. If you don't agree with me on something then you are being judgmental. If you are judging me then you don't/can't love me.
I have a 10 year old daughter that does lots of things, thinks lots of things, and has attitudes about things that I don't necessarily agree with but yet I love her.
I don't think disagreeing is judging. Judgment happens when my disagreement causes me to not love you or hinders my care for you.
It also interesting how many have created a Jesus in their minds that does not seem to be the Jesus from scripture.
This Sunday I teaching on John 8 where Jesus is presented with a woman caught in adultery. He gives a great response..."He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her". People in the crowd sober up and one by one the stones hit the ground.
Now that is a great picture of Jesus--the non-judging one.
But if you read further, He then says to her, 'go your way, and sin no more'. Interesting!
He views her lifestyle choice, calls it sin, and exhorts her to stop.
Jesus does judge her sin but then again, he is the only one that can because he was the only one without sin.
If you read my first post, I wrote some things that annoyed me. Those were intentional because i wanted to see how long it would take before someone would judge me for my thoughts. Read the first response (anonymous). I was called judgmental right off the bat by someone that has never met me. The moment you think you are humble...guess what--you are not. It is also hard to make a judgment about someone without being judgmental.
We all judge. We all disagree with others over issues. The question is, can i disagree with someone and yet still love them.
i understand why people think Christians are judgmental. I am trying to change that perception to folks around me. Can i love those that i don't necessarily agree with?
I believe we can and i believe that is truly loving a person. It is easy to love those we like and that are like us but what about those who are hard to like. Can you love them?
Leave the judging to God for He is the only one with the credentials to do it.
Instead, love someone fiercely that is hard to love...you might be amazed at the effect.
Love to hear your thoughts!
I beg to respectfully disagree with you here, Brad - that your comments in your first blog about things that annoy you were just opinions and not judgements. It is one thing to find certain groups of people annoying... people standing around at the gym, people driving slow, people who try to cope with their weight, age, hairstyle or coffee breath a certain way... But I'd say you crossed the line into being judgmental when you felt (and then spoke) disparagingly toward them. You say you chose those examples on purpose to bait a certain response, but to say that an entire group of people should be locked up, or would be better off eating pizza than at least *trying* to be healthier, really does come across as thinking you are "better than" - in essence, judgmental. I agree that we need to proactively strive to love those who are not like us - I'm on your side in this discussion, but I hope you'll see my point that to say things like that sounds judgmental. Is it judgmental to point out when someone else is being judgmental, or is that just fact?
ReplyDeleteDon't think disagreeing is judgement either, but I really think the respondents to the Barna survey are latching on to something more specific than mere disagreement.
ReplyDeleteThe Barna research is asking about "negative perceptions" of Christians. I think it is a pretty safe conclusion that the judgment respondents were referring to is one I actually found in my Bible Dictionary: "to pass sentence upon, to form a negative opinion about." We can all disagree without "form(ing) a negative opinion about" the person we are disagreeing with. But if I have a negative view of the individual because of their behavior (i.e. homosexuality), and condemn them in my heart, then I am indeed being judgmental....because I am moving beyond saying their sin is wrong, and condemning them - often fooling myself into thinking my sin is somehow lessened by comparison - clearly not true.
Paul's letter to the Romans, Chapter 2, confirms "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things." My sin may not be the same behavior, but it remains sin.
As for the "annoyances" in the first post, and the response that followed....whether you (Brad) or the respondent have ever met is not the issue. Brad even said "we all judge," without excluding himself. I pray that we as a people will move boldly towards Christ's numerous examples of his encounters with sinners...and examine our hearts to eliminate any "negative opinions", judgement, anger, fear, etc....
Really good stuff here!
i'm confused is the brad making the comments the same brad this is writing the blog?
ReplyDeleteReply to Anonymous - nope. My Google Profile is Brad B., but for some reason the "B." never shows up. Sorry to confuse you.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused. Who's Anonymous?
ReplyDelete