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Judging

 We judge people.  We judge people because of the decisions they made.  We judge people because of the words they say.  There are hosts of reasons for why people judge the way they do.

The problem is... we don't have the whole picture.  We don't know all the events a person went through.  Not only that, but we don't know how the experiences a person had affected them.  Everyone is different.  One person's paper cut is another person's crucifixion.  What we experience from the pains that happen is going to be different depending on a person's sensitivity.  Also, everyone is making decisions.  Those decisions are determined by factors that we may or may not know about or understand.  We have a very incomplete picture of what is going on in the world.

Long story short... we should be judicious about judging.  It's okay to label a scoundrel a scoundrel in terms of not associating with someone who seems evil, but... remember that you don't know everything that went into their decisions.  It's okay to believe you would do things differently if you were in their shoes, but be careful about meditating on this idea.  You don't know what that person has been through or how they got that way.  On the day of judgment, we may find out weird things, like... Hitler's father was an asshole or some such, or other extenuating circumstances over the many evil things that happened here on Earth, and learn that things are always more complicated than they seem.  Don't get me wrong- mistakes do get made.  People do do evil things.  Justice will come.  I'm just not totally sure what that will all look like, because many of the decisions we make are influenced by our biology and by circumstances outside our control.  I do think parents that do a rotten job of raising their kids who become monsters may be judged some for not doing what was necessary to raise their child right.  How much of that is poor information, versus negligence, will also be considered.  Judgement is a complex thing.  Be careful what you think about others.  It matters.

Case in point.  I just watched some of an episode of the show House.  For those not familiar, the show is named after the lead character Dr. Gregory House, who likes to diagnose cases that are very difficult.  He gets a case of someone who is on death row and who isn't doing well.  House figures out that this man has a tumor pressing against his pituitary gland, causing bursts of rage.  Is this based on something that is true?  Don't know.  Could be pure fiction.  However, the idea that some of the decisions we make could be traced back to biology... not a unique thought.  Certainly mental illness is caused by biological issues we don't understand.  How is God going to look at crimes that were severely influenced by biology?  Probably a lot differently than how he looks at crimes in general.  The point of this is, we don't have the whole picture.  We don't know everything.  Be careful about saying you are better than someone else.  It's okay to not keep friendships with unhealthy people, but... don't get all high and mighty about the people you don't associate with.  You don't know for sure that you would behave differently had you been in their shoes.  Try to remember everyone is given different blessings and curses, and some people's blessings are better than others, and some people's curses are worse than others.  Life is complicated.  Be wary of looking down your nose at people who are more messed up than you.

What Are We Doing?

 I just had a conversation, and I'm beginning to think that the Christian culture is going down the road of "let Jesus blood cover your sins, and from there basically just do what you think is right."  I'm not sure that's exactly how they would distill their point of view, but... I think there are many Christians that feel this way, and so I want to talk about it.

Jesus taught many things.  Some of those things are hard to reach.  Others are within our grasp if we are willing.  We all have to wrestle with the statements made by the Son of God.  I think... while we are called to care about our neighbor and what they do, our primary concern should always be what we do.  However, having a high standard of righteousness is a virtue that we should all pursue.  Each of us should care about how we conduct ourselves and what our attitudes are about where we are going and what we are doing.  We should care about the teachings of Jesus.  If something Jesus said seems to run contrary to how you want to live your life, then that is a teaching you should meditate on, for it is his teachings we will judged upon, whether we took them seriously or not.  I know there's a tremendous focus within the Christian community on the teachings of Paul- I think focusing on Paul's teachings instead of Jesus's teachings is a mistake.  One of Paul's teachings is on the atonement.  I'm not opposed to the atonement- I think Jesus dying and resurrecting so we can go to Heaven makes sense.  But I'm sure of this- Jesus teachings >>>> Paul's teachings.  We should focus on what Jesus taught as being the focus of our spiritual selves.  That means we should be weary about focusing on how we can do what we want because of grace, and not focused on trying to follow Jesus.  Do I know the correct interpretation for all of Jesus's teachings?  No.  I don't think anyone should cut off their hand because it causes them to sin, or gouge out their eyes because they cause sin.  I think Jesus just wanted people to be passionate about righteousness.  And I agree with the person I was talking to that that starts with yourself.  I just hope the church doesn't become so grace-centric that we lose our sense of having a high standard and really caring about doing the will of God while here on Earth.  If you think Jesus disagrees with a decision you made or a decision you think you are going to make in the future, I think you should ponder that choice.  Or what on Earth are we doing?