Thoughts that have come from various quotes taken from the book, "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim Based Society" by John H. Hovis. Click here to link directly to the audio file.
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"It is when we don’t know all we need to know about a person, group or situation that the possibility for offense is at its highest."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 211.
How are you at judging other people? Some of us are pretty good at reading into the lives of others. As good as some are, the reality is that without really knowing what is going on in a person's life, our judgement will always be so incomplete. It is when we base our relational actions on judgments made without all the knowledge we need that we put ourselves in places where we can make victims of those all around us.
It is so easy to discount someone when we judge their actions based on what we see or can understand. Thank God He doesn't judge me in this way! So much of what I do, say and even think can be viewed in a way that really wouldn't be all that advantageous to the life I want. It is when my heart is examined - when my motives are viewed through the lens of all that has happened in my life that a story comes into view. That story tells reveals the condition of my soul and, frankly, breaks God's heart in ways that make healing something that will happen in my life.
See, judgement based on evidence alone is something that shuts down relationship. Judgement based on knowledge makes relationship something that has the potential to bring power in the life of the hurting and lost. We have to remember who the hurting and lost are when it comes to God's perspective. The hurting and lost are you and me! I'm so glad God takes more into account than the victim thinking ways I choose to act out in my life when it comes to making a judgement about me. Aren't you?
Today's reading is a strong command Jesus gave to the crowds trying to accuse Him for actions they just didn't understand. Take a look at our reading with me now. Jesus said,
Stop judging by external standards, and judge by true standards. John 7:24 (GNT)
When Jesus says "stop", I tend to pay attention to what He is saying. So much of Jesus' life was about leading by example. The few times He spoke in a manner we might consider as teaching have been recorded for reasons that I think have pretty serious eternal consequence. It isn't that God is saying not to judge. He wants us to stop making judgments based on external standards. It is when we judge by what Jesus calls "true standards" that we are stepping more fully into the heavenly realm as far as the victor is concerned.
What are true standards? I highly doubt they are a bunch of rules and regulations that we can follow. There is nothing wrong with having established standards. But, as we have discussed time and time again, rules do nothing good when it comes to relationship. God is a highly relational God. He wants us to live out relationship as fully as we can. Looking to rules and regulations to help us in judgement will almost guarantee that relationship will turn into something God just can't stand.
So what does it mean to judge by true standards? I took a look at the word that is translated as true in our passage today. In Greek, this world means right or righteous. It has more to do with the divine standards than it does to the concept of right and wrong. I sense an authority in that word that doesn't come with our knowledge of things of this world but our connection with the eternal. It is as though God is saying that judgement is hard unless we are connected to Him. Through that connection we will be able to see into the lives of others and make judgments that will foster relationships rather than push them away.
That's why we have to be so careful in "judging the book by its cover." It is so easy to miss an opportunity to connect with someone because of what I see instead of being drawn to connect because of what God shows me in true or right judgement. I can't tell you how many people I have come into contact with that have played such a key role in my walk with God that I would have never given the time of day if I had chose to judge them based on what I saw in their lives. I have to ask myself, how many of those connections have I missed because I judged on appearances? That's a question that I just don't like to consider. Thank God, He doesn't judge me on my failures like I have done to so many others in my life.
Today's presentation isn't meant to bring guilt or shame to your life. If it has, let it go. God has! No, today is all about change. It is about us all stepping more fully into who God has made us to be. We were made with a purpose. Our victor status was meant to make change in this world. That change comes as we judge rightly. As we let the Spirit of God lead us into places we might have never gone on our own judgement, know this - we will be changed. Let the power of that change be part of how you make relationship happen as your judgement is led by God's hand in your life today.
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