For some people the whole of Christianity seems to be summed up in the phrase ‘Do not judge’. And many of those people aren’t even Christians! As such, this week’s passage gives us a great case study in how careful we have to be not to read into Jesus’ words our own cultural assumptions. When it comes to not judging, our culture has a clear sense of what it means: we can’t express disapproval. To not judge is to not criticise... or indeed to not do anything other than affirm me and my opinion. It is code for ‘You have to accept me as I am’.
This way of thinking is often justified by a spurious logic: You don’t know me. You don’t know my experience. You haven’t walked in my shoes. As such you have no right to pass any negative assessment on who I am, who I want to be, or what I do. It is used a shield, designed to deflect any reproach, or censure.
So pervasive is this ‘interpretation’ of the idea of not judging, that we may find it difficult to disentangle it from our thinking. We may reflex into it as we read those very words on the lips of Jesus. It might even deafen us, rendering us incapable of actually engaging with what Jesus means when He says what He does!
This is a common issue we face as Christians seeking to faithfully make sense of the Bible... that of allowing the Bible to define its own terms (or in this case, allowing Jesus to define His own terms). Words are slippery things, and their meaning can change over time. Added to this is our culture’s propensity to remove words from their Christ-centred meaning and focus. So even words that we assume we understand, and have in common with people who aren’t Christians, words like ‘love’ or ‘’forgive’ get confused, or take on drastically different meaning.
All of which means we need to be careful as we engage with the text of Scripture. Subtle, but crippling misunderstandings creep in when we simply assume we know what words mean, transposing them from our own cultural key. Often just a moment’s pause is enough to help us realise our mistake. Can we really imagine Jesus calling His disciples to abandon their critical faculties when it comes to patterns of sinful behaviour – whether our own or other peoples?
Questions:
Take each of the key words in vv.37: judge, condemn, forgive. How does the meaning of these words differ between culture and Christ?
When does being generous in our dealing with others (v.38) tip over into legitimising, or even just ignoring sinful behaviour?
When do you think you should confront sin and disobedience in the lives of other Christians? Can you think of passages which call us to make precisely these kinds of judgments?
What do you think constitutes blindness in a leader? How would you recognise a ‘blind’ leader in the Church?
How should a Church ‘fully’ train disciples? How optimistic are you about our ability to grow to be like our Teacher? What has that process of being training looked like in your own experience of being a Christian?
How helpful do you find Jesus’ idea that being a Christian is being a student? How would that affect your attitude to your faith?
What happens to a Church when it’s ‘students’ aren’t fully trained?
How would you explain Jesus’ parable in vv.41-42 to someone? What does this process look like in MIE? How qualified do you feel to help others navigate repentance and spiritual growth? Why is being unqualified such a problem?
