Today’s Scripture Reading (January 6, 2018): 1 Corinthians 5
Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre
commented that “We do not judge the people we love.” I am not sure if Sartre
was stating life as it should be or making an observation simply of life as it exists. But the reality is
that we see evil a lot easier in people who we disagree with than we do in
those with whom we find places of agreement. Maybe the most obvious place that we
see this is in the arena of politics. If you agree with much of what a
politician says, then you are willing to overlook, or even more likely, you do
not even see, the mistakes and errors
that the political figure makes. But if you never liked the politician in the
first place, those errors are glaring examples of everything that is wrong with
the person. The scenario plays itself out with almost any election. We do not
judge the ones that we love, only the ones with which we have a severe disagreement because it is then that the evil
is most apparent.
Paul tells a story of a man who
is in a sexual relationship with his step-mother. It is important to note that
this is not just an action that is judged to be wrong within the church, but it
is an action that would have been seen as
evil by the unbelieving community that
surrounded the church in Corinth. But
the church in Corinth has praised the behavior as an example of the freedom
that is found in Christ. And in doing so, they have severely handicapped their ability to influence
the community at large. The act is wrong, but we don’t judge the people that we
love, and so, in Corinth, the action is excused.
Paul is not impressed. And so
he has some strong words for the Corinthian Church. He is also about to set out
expectations for judgment that we still struggle with today. Jesus famous words
were simple; “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1). But Paul
refines the command. It is not so much that you are not supposed to judge, but instead that you are not supposed to judge
those who hold different opinions than you hold.
You are supposed to judge those who are in agreement with you. The problem is
that this is precisely the reverse of our
practice. We do not judge those with whom
we agree, but instead, we judge those who
exist outside of our viewpoints.
Maybe, to put an even finer
point on this, we are to judge those around us by the standard that they claim
to uphold. Don’t judge a Muslim because
he or she rejects Christian principles. In the end, that kind of judgment has
to be left up to God (or Allah). Judge a Muslim on
the basis of whether or not they are good Muslims, and a Christian
according to whether or not they uphold the Christian faith. The question for
each of us is whether or not we do what we say we are going to do. And from a
human viewpoint, there is no other judgment to which we should be submitted.
All other judgment
must come from God.
Politically, there is nothing unusual about a Democrat sitting in
judgment over a Republican. What is refreshing is when a Republican admits
that, yes, we blew it. We did not act according to our principles. We need to
do better. And that is the kind of judgment that God expects from us – all of
us.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 6
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