Judging vs. Being Judgmental

“Who am I to judge?”

This must be Pope Francis’ most famous quote. It came from a press conference on an airplane in 2013 when Francis was asked about gays in the church. The phrase was considered revolutionary for a pope and launched a controversy about how the church should respond to homosexuality.

It brought praise from some; condemnation from others. Some critics said it confused people. Others said it appeared to place the pope on the side of moral relativism – the term used to describe denial of the existence of objective morality, holding instead that there is “your right and wrong and my right and wrong.”

Indeed, the pope’s words were a shock for the Catholics who believe judging is exactly what a pope is supposed to do.

Clear?

But isn’t the gospel pretty clear on the subject?

“Judge not and you will not be judged,” Jesus is quoted as saying in Mathew’s gospel. Does that apply to popes? And he continued in an even more powerful way, saying, “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log that’s in your eye?”

But didn’t Jesus himself do a lot of judging? Again according to Mathew’s gospel, Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees were like “whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful but within are full of dead men’s bones….” In Luke’s gospel, Jesus calls Herod Antipas, who ruled Galilee and was the son of the Herod the Great who was in power when Jesus was born, a “fox.”

Reputation for Being Sly

Commentators don’t seem to agree on what Jesus meant. Foxes had, and still have, a reputation for being sly or cunning, and this Herod was evidently hoping to scare Jesus into abandoning his preaching in Herod’s territory. But foxes, according to some scholars, were also considered to be unclean animals according to Jewish tradition.

The point here is that Jesus seemed to be judging the scribes and Pharisees and Herod Antipas. Ok, so traditional Christian theology recognizes Jesus as God and judging is what God does.

But to take it a bit further, shouldn’t we judge public figures to determine whether they deserve our support? And don’t we rightly judge people, at least to ourselves, on a daily basis to determine whether we want, or should, deal with them in business or some other capacity?

I believe distinctions are to be made, at least for people searching for God. Seems to me the kind of judging we should NOT do is the kind that is reserved for God. “Is this person, despite his or her faults, redeemable?” “Is he or she accepted by God?” None of us are capable or such judgments.

Judging by Appearances

One of the problems for humans who attempt to judge is that we invariably judge by appearances, a trait also critiqued in the Bible, like in the first book of Samuel. “…For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Today, and I suspect like the people in Jesus’ day, we judge people by whether they’re overweight; whether they have tattoos; whether they wear fashionable or expensive clothes or shoes; whether they go to our church or are members of our political party; whether they’re too old or too young; or by the color of their skin or their accent.

Maybe people searching for God, who should strive to be God-like, should remember that we can’t look into another’s heart so we shouldn’t try. The phrase, “Hate the sin but love the sinner” sums up the church’s traditional view on judging and I believe it’s a good rule of thumb.