Judge Not...

^.^

Now, after all of my latest posts, I make value judgements, and I say we should do such and such, and why...because I believe it's the best thing for the country, or for humanity in general.

Now, I can hear some of you out there... "Hey John, aren't you a Christian, and doesn't the Bible tell you that you should not judge people?" Yep! The Big J says so in Matthew 7:1, "Judge not lest ye be judged."

However, there is a difference between judging a PERSON, and judging their thoughts, actions, and opinions. If we were not allowed to form Christian-based value judgements, then why did Jesus clear out all of the money-changers in the Temple? (Matthew 21:12-13)

To put it simply, the Bible is full of value judgements...have you taken a look at the Ten Commandments? Each of the dictates contained there is a value judgement...you know, murder is bad, stealing things is bad, lusting after someone's wife is bad... Now, when you go and start talking about *people*, you have to be careful. A person who steals is a thief...that's a fact. However, people are in generally good people...until it's an unmitigated fact that they're not.

The biggest standard in judging people is that we as Christians is that we "love the sinner, and hate the sin." Thus we can and should condemn homosexuality as an abomination to God, (Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:24), however Jesus never condemned the SINNER, he offered them repentence. It's in that vein that Christians should act...we condemn the SIN, not the SINNER.

However, there is the other extreme to judging the SINNER, and that is when people decide that THEY can decide what is truth. They don't want anyone to make value judgements whatsoever. If you believe that your beliefs are the TRUTH, then they are, and who am I to tell you that you are wrong.

I guess this means that Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich buddies had their own truths too, and we should respect them because we should not impose our truths on others. Just a reminder, these are the people who came up with that wonderful set of truths encapsulated in the book "101 Ways to Cook Humans."

Yeah, for those of you who figure you can find your own truths, let's see how fast you change your mind when you confront someone who has decided that *his* truth is that you don't exist anymore. I'll place bets on how quick you find God.

John B.
Blogger Guy