“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned." Luke 6:37
We are a fallen people living in a world of fallen people. All of us sin and all of us have our own things we deal with that keep us from being as much like Jesus as we’d like to be. So when we hear today’s short Gospel passage from Luke, reminding us that we will be ‘measured’ as we ‘measure’ others, it should make us stop and pause.
It would be a wonderful thing to say that we never look at others and judge them for their actions or choices. That we always give others the benefit of the doubt and see only the good in people. But we all have our moments. And for some of us, it has become second nature to see the faults in those around us more readily than we see our own. And don’t we also have the moral obligation to help people stop living in sin and see how the Lord loves them? What about the idea of loving the sinner and hating the sin? Don’t we have to judge actions, whether it is our own or someone else’s?
When we hear the admonition from Jesus to “stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.” we start to think, “I’m not supposed to be judging anyone.” This is especially true when this passage is used to tell us, as Christians, that we are not allowed to tell others that what they are doing goes against what God wants for them. It starts to get a bit muddy and unclear.
Christ loved the sinner, but He also called them to sin no more. We are called to be like Christ, so what do we do with this passage? If we take a moment and break it down, we can see that Jesus is not telling His followers they can’t ever judge the behavior of others. What He is really saying is that we need to be living lives that follow Christ and our actions need to be aligned with His will. Why? Because then, our efforts to help others see their sins, in love and charity, will be better received. And because we want Him to see us with the same compassion and mercy that we look upon others.
Let that sink in for a bit. Jesus reminds us in Matthew’s version of this teaching that we need to remove the plank from our eye before we try to remove the splinter from our neighbor. There is a difference between passing judgment on another's actions with the thought to help them see sin and turn back to the Lord and just viewing others as wrong. Remember, that when we compare ourselves to others, we tend to either see ourselves as better or worse. Rarely do we see ourselves in the same boat. But again, we are all fallen people and maybe if we remember that, we can start working on our own lives and getting right with God this Lent. Then we can begin listening and helping each other do better and we can all grow in holiness together.
Reflection Questions: Read this quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved” (CCC 2477-2478). How does this challenge you today?
Prayer: Lord, send Your Spirit upon me and help me desire holiness. Help me to look first at myself and work on what needs to be changed. And then let me have Your heart for others and help them see the love You have for them. May my example of conversion bring about the same for others. Amen.