Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.
- Romans 2:1
There are times when it feels good to judge others as it can make me feel more virtuous. I had that experience recently when watching the videos and testimonies presented by the House January 6th Committee. I found myself not only judging, but condemning and holding in contempt hundreds of fellow Americans with whom I disagree. I didn’t want to try and understand how they felt.
In past years I have attended several presentations by members of Trinity’s Kairos team after they returned from a weekend at Angola State Penitentiary, I was always moved by their personal stories of connecting with and sharing many hours of fellowship with inmates who had committed terrible crimes. They were able to withhold judgment and see only fellow humans who needed the love of Christ. By the end of the weekend the team felt love and kinship with their brothers in Christ. They realized no one is as bad as the worse thing they ever did.
William Barnwell had a favorite saying that he heard often from his mother, “There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, it hardly behooves any of us to talk about the rest of us.”
Our Baptismal Covenant directs us “to seek and serve Christ in all people.” As hard as it is for me to sometimes accept, all means all.
Musical Reflection - There's a Wideness in God's Mercy - Riverside Choir
