The Necessity of Judgment

     Judgment is a tricky thing.
     We all must make judgments in life. If I do not think my children's friends are a positive influence in their lives, you'd better believe I am going to exercise my parental judgment. If somebody (including me) preaches or writes something outlandish, we should judge those comments accordingly. If I am guilty of running a red light and the traffic camera has caught me on film, then I should be (and have been) judged guilty.
     The key it seems is to judge with the Golden Rule in mind. When we enter the arena of judgment, as we all must do, then we judge others by the standard, "love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus affirms this when he says, "Do not be judged, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make, you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get." (Mt. 7:1-2, NRSV).
     What do we take from this?
     At face value, maybe Jesus means what he says. Do not judge. Period. You are better off -- and so is everybody else -- if you never, ever judge anybody.
     But how can we possibly do this? If we do not judge the actions of others, then there would be no justice or order in the world. Our children would run afoul with no accountability and no guidance or protection. Dictators would run wild (as they frequently do) because no other nations would be courageous enough to judge that despot as corrupt or evil, and to respond appropriately.
      Judgment, it seems, is a necessary thing in this world, but it has to be used wisely and correctly.
     A helpful tool, it seems, is to avoid judging personhood. It is better practice to judge the words that people speak and the actions that they take, rather than judging the person themselves. Operate by the principle, "Attack words, not people."
     There will come a time to judge people's character and personhood, though. If somebody strings together enough words and enough actions to warrant a negative judgment on our part -- in terms of character -- then so it must be. We just need to be prepared to be held to that same standard, by others and by God.
     Indeed, judgment is a tricky thing.