Give it to me straight, preacher

Rev. Matt Rawle

Talking about judgment is difficult for some. It’s far too easy for others. On one end of the spectrum, the plank in our eye is so large that people dismiss judgment all together, claiming that holding each other accountable reeks of self righteous exclusivity and pious bullying. On the other end of the pendulum swing we obsess over the speck of dust in our brother’s eye, proclaiming a works righteousness gospel in which God details our life in a ledger, and if our sins outweigh the good fruit of our faith, we will spend an eternity in torment.

I think McKnight is on to something when he talks about the difference between “judging” and “discernment.” We are not to judge others, namely, as our creeds confess, because Christ is the judge of the living and the dead. Have you ever pondered why God would “delegate” this eternal responsibility to the Son? It is because Jesus walked with us, ate with us, washed our feet and commanded that we do the same. It is because Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners and rose again so that we might find abundant life. Our judge is also the one who died and rose again for our sake, and this gives me hope. So we are not to judge others because in so doing we assume the role of The Beloved, and if we remember our story well, attempting to assume the role of The Divine is what got us kicked out of the garden (Genesis 3).

Having said this, we are to hold each other accountable in faithful, loving, Christian community, not assuming the convicting role of the Spirit; rather grabbing a towel and filling a basin of warm water and washing each other’s feet in humble service. If I’ve learned one thing in the parish it’s this: If you publicize a foot washing service, folks will go out of their way to make sure their feet are presentable!

Rather than preaching an offensive Gospel of judgment (those who typically call for an offensive word usually want a word that offends everyone but them) or to live by the proverbial “to each his own,” we are to prayerfully discern how to live as a holy and humble community with one another, meeting the needs of each other so that the light of Christ may burn away the darkness we hold deep within our souls. May God bless you with humility and discernment as we walk on the way which leads to abundant life.