We Don't Need to Judge....
"Would more people come to church if they knew no one would judge them, because everyone there was so aware of his own brokenness that he couldn't possibly point a finger at someone else?" John Fischer - Confessions of a Caffinated Christian
Henri Nouwen makes this same point in "The Way of the Heart." See, a main line christian and a catholic priest saying the same thing, it must be a truth!
When I talk about not needing to tell people about judgement and how ugle they are, that they already know they are ugly...we can't point that judgement finger...this is what I mean, I am not a memeber of the "young people these days" who believe that there are no consequences...I feel that we are so guilty we cannot judge and if we really are aware of ourselves, the people around will be aware of our own attitudies and thoughts and become more aware of themselves. Relationship is the best way to bare our selves and let people see our ugly selves and the Grace that is flowing down to cover that ugly...what a powerful message...stop faking it, be naked and Love it other. (opps what kind of search would pull up this blog?)
I do believe the church as it is, is becoming irrelevant, so full of hypocrisy how can we possiblly expect people to come???? Revolution people, lets really see what happens, what kind of safe place we can be if we simply love people. Ya, I do think it is that simple.
See what reading can do to fire me up....I feel excited at the thought of a church that really works at not judging people, that doesn't have to add the BUT except when....
Any hoo just a few lite thoughts for the evening. Read "The Way of the Heart" study it, absorb it, it could cause a revolution....
mimlap out!
posted by mimlap @ 12/02/2005 07:18:00 p.m.
5 Comments:
What you are proposing is not a very safe thing, to let go of our understanding of how life must be lived and allow that others can be Christian and live differently.
Brian McLaren found a really good challenge for your discussion of judging people. Look up "Hermaphrodites"
Maybe I just can't come to church anymore...I really don't want to be a part of something that says Christians are better then other people....I think it is safer for us, easier to deal with if we put up walls againt "those people" Ok, I will think about it some more but I really do feel strongly about this stuff, maybe I can't come to church anymore....
Either Mim is misunderstanding Eric or I am.
Here's a quote from this Brian McLaren that Eric is talking about:
Brian McLaren:
I don’t think it would be wise to advocate ignorance. But I do believe that—facing our past, our differences, our diverse doctrines, and our different structures of leadership—we should obey Jesus’ command to love one another. That has to be worked out in each situation, and it’s messy —just as it is in friendships, neighborhoods, and families—but that’s our calling. I don’t see how we can claim some sort of exemption from Christ’s command to love another as he loved us.
I was attempting to refrain from judging, and my comment is simply that from inside the group it feels "safer" to do what we have always done, it feels "safer" to not allow differences. I am not saying that is the meaning of "safe place" that we are proposing for our vision.
Before reading your post I was reading Brian McLaren's book, "The Last Word and the Word After That" and I found particularly interesting how he weaves a challenging situation into the story.
The challenge from this story was a challenge for me. The person in the story is born with both male and female parts, somewhat and doctors at the time just made all those born that way female. Is that right? How does this fit into the neat little catagories that I have as a (generally) conservative Christian? It makes me think a lot more about some of the beliefs that I have and assumptions I have. I am being challenged in my judgements of people.
If I am still not communicating, challenge me more and I will try to explain the wierd thought processes in my head. Sometimes I write a lot less than what I have thought out and meaning can get lost.
Yes, I misunderstood perhaps because I wanted to. I have been feeling "not known" lately and jumped to a wrong conclussion with Eric's comment. I see now that actually we are on the same page (= Sorry people, partly it is the issue of not being able to see a face while blogging and partly my hormones are still raging...I get to claim that exuse for up to one year after the baby (=
Eric, thank you for forgiving my judgement which is exactly what I was trying to speak out again. ahh the irony!
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