No Judgment
Judgment
Judgment is for God, and not for humans. “Thou shalt not judge!”
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." Luke 6:37
Perceiving wrongs
Perceptions are based on attitudes, beliefs, and habits, which may be biased and distorted because they’re derived from the unique past experiences of an individual. They’re all processed and interpreted by the thinking mind of that individual.
Wrong predicting
In 1901, Wilbur Wright said that man would not fly for fifty years. Henry Ford's banker was told by a lawyer: "The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty, a fad."
Just as the Wright brothers and Henry Ford were not afraid to go forward with their own visions, instead of relying on the opinions of the skeptics. These so-called experts all had their "wrong" predictions.
Judging and executing
Judging others and rebuking sins can surprisingly lead to committing more sins, instead of stopping and restraining sins
An Illustration
In Houston, Texas, a man using a gun robbed others in a taqueria restaurant. The robber was on the verge of leaving that restaurant when he was shot 9 times by a vigilante diner, who then helped diners recover their money robbed before he disappeared. The police later discovered that the suspect's gun was only a "plastic gun." The Texas police then began looking for that vigilante diner, with that "you-took-my-money-I took-your-life" mindset of rebuking sins.
Indeed, many in the process of "judging" others also commit their own sin. That's a testament to the prevalence of sins in everyday life and living.
Judging and presuming
An Illustration
On July 4, 2022, a 25-year-old Black man in Akron, Ohio, was shot 60 times by 8 policemen. The news was widely reported in the media because the victim was a Black man, and the police had presumably used “excess force” to gun him down.
The victim, who had no previous criminal record, was initially stopped at a routine traffic stop. Maybe “racial injustice” and “excessive use of police force” told the victim to get away. So, he chose to get away.
Driving away his car and being chased by the police put him in another mental situation that told him that the police would use excessive force because he was a Black man. To “stop the police chase” he fired his gunshots at the police car chasing him.
After stopping his car at some point, the man left his car and started running away. While running, he suddenly turned around without his gun, and he was shot 60 times.
Another Illustration
Recently, in the trial of those accused in the killing of Ahmaud Arbury, a victim gunned down while he was running on the street, the defense attorney said Ahmaud had “dirty toenails”—a “presumption” that he had committed a burglary that made him run away and led to his being killed by the defendants. The defense attorney’s “dirty toenails” presumption enraged the court and Ahmaud family members. It was widely reported in the media throughout the United States.
Does it mean that anyone with “dirty toenails” is a criminal, or has the propensity to become one?
So, any “presumption” that someone has done something wrong without any strong evidence can cause anger.
The Bottom Line
Judging others is wrong due to incorrect perceptions and insufficient knowledge of others
Living by faith, you leave your judgement of others to God and forgive their wrongdoings to gain God’s righteous judgment of you.
Stephen Lau
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