Judging

The following is a personal meditation on Romans 14:

What is judging? By that, I mean, what are the discursive associations that come to mind when you say, "don't judge"? My theory is that the problem of judgment is related to the problem of comparison.

We all compare. We compare grades, dorm rooms, cars, phones, houses, and families. What's wrong with comparing a little? Why can't we imagine having billions of dollars like Warren Buffett? I would say the problem is that we are comparing ourselves with the wrong people. We idealize big successes. The next Harry Potter book series. The next Bill Gates. The next Michael Jordan. Sure, these individuals are great in one sense. By this, I mean in a worldly sense. It is worth noting here that success, even in a worldly sense, is a collaborative effort. How many individuals contributed so that Bill Gates could have unlimited computer terminal time in his teenage years, when few people had access to a computer? I find it interesting what Michael Jordan has to say about his own greatness:

"There is no such thing as a perfect basketball player, and I don't believe there is only one greatest player either. Everyone plays in different eras. I built my talents on the shoulders of someone else's talent. I believe greatness is an evolutionary process that changes and evolves era to era. Without Julius Erving, David Thompson, Walter Davis, and Elgin Baylor there would never have been a Michael Jordan. I evolved from them."

No one exists in a vacuum. There would be no concept of "greatness" without the society which creates a certain definition of it. I think, however, we have gone too far with our modern definition of "greatness." We think that great individuals are born, not made; we think that greatness is about having a special talent or skill that impresses a lot of folks.

But Jesus shows us what greatness is. He shows us what it truly means to be righteous and humble at the same time. He shows us an unrivaled example of courage and of sacrifice at the same time. He says that the kingdom of Heaven belongs to children (Matt. 19:14). He says that the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted will inherit the kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 5:1-10, The Beatitudes).

How paradoxical. The meek will inherit the earth (Matt 5:5)! The poor in spirit will obtain passage into heaven (Matt 5:3).

All along, we have been comparing ourselves with the wrong people. We've been comparing ourselves with people who have a lot. But that is not the way of true happiness and glory. We need to compare ourselves with the One who gave it all. The One who became homeless for our sakes. The One who was shunned and persecuted. The One whom the religious elites refused to believe. The One who was arrested, tortured, and nailed onto the Cross.

Let our comparisons be true. May they be comprehensive. Let's compare ourselves with those who have no home. If we do that, then we will realize we are rich and blessed beyond all measure. Let's compare ourselves with those who are starving for food. If we do that, then we will realize how incredibly lucky we are to have food readily available.

Judgment, I think, is this comparison gone awry. Let me just for a moment give a personal example. I used to be a vegetarian freshman and part of sophomore year. When I wasn't eating meat, I used to judge others' eating habits a lot. I used to convince or try to convince others that what they were doing was wrong. But now I know I was wrong; Romans 14:3 says, "Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him."

When I was a vegetarian, I didn't realize how my judgments of others were in fact making me a more cynical person. I didn't realize how my words criticizing a person's eating habits could hurt someone. This cynicism, I realize, made me unhappy, although I did not admit it to myself.

I eat meat now (in limited quantities), but I have realized the most important thing is to love people regardless of what they eat or drink. I have realized the most important thing is to treat them as brothers and sisters in Christ. I have realized the most important thing is to love God, not food or some conception of food that I think is correct. Romans 14:1 tells us not to quarrel over opinions. This chapter really spoke to me because I was a non-meat-eater for over a year, and because I have a tendency to dispute others' opinions.

The problem with judgment is also the problem with solipsism. Solipsism is a handy-dandy academic term for self-absorption. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as, "The view or theory that self is the only object of real knowledge or the only thing really existent." But we know that the solipsist is really the most deluded individual of us all. He or she is truly in his own world. We also know that solipsism is demonstrably false because people besides ourselves definitely exist, and (for those of faith) that God exists.

How to escape the trappings of the self? How to escape the solipsism so heavily encouraged by American culture? How do we, as David Foster Wallace once said, "shut off the lago-like voice of the self"? How do we live outside of our own perceptions of reality and our own minds? The mind being an excellent servant but terrible master?



God.