I am most grateful for the comments generated by
my previous post. I have been musing about why not
judging others seems to be a stumbling block.
Perhaps, it is because we consider the spiritual
life in the absolutist, rational categories of right
and wrong or guilt and innocence, rather than in
terms of healthy, living communion with God and
diseased, deadening alienation from Him or radiant,
grace-attracting humility and darkened,
grace-repelling pride. Judgment demands that the
guilty be punished and wrongs be righted. Compassion
seeks for the sick to be healed and the proud to be
humbled. Judgment divides me from my brother as
separate and different from me. Compassion unites us
as being one in need of a merciful God.
In a somewhat startling passage, Saint Isaac the
Syrian writes,
“Justice does not belong to the Christian way of
life and there is no mention of it in Christ’s
teachings….How can you call God just when you
come across the Scriptural passage on the wage
given to the workers? ‘Friend, I do thee no
wrong: I choose to give unto this last even unto
thee. Or is thine eye evil because I am good?’
How can a man call God just when he comes across
the passage on the prodigal son who wasted his
wealth with riotous living, how for the
compunction alone which he showed, the father
ran and fell upon his neck and gave him
authority over all his wealth…Where, then is
God’s justice, for while we are sinners Christ
died for us?” (Homily 51).
As Christians, we should be concerned with being
merciful around others rather than with judging
them. And this can take place only if our spiritual
eyes are not evil, but pure and single, as are the
spiritual eyes of those who are united to God with
humble prayer ceaselessly being offered up for all,
as incense before the ever-merciful and forgiving
Lord.
In the Orthodox Church, today is the Sunday of the
Publican and the Pharisee. The Gospel for the day
introduces this parable by noting: “And he
spake this parable unto certain which trusted in
themselves that they were righteous, and despised
others.” There are two kinds
of misjudgment at work here. The presumption of
being righteous when one is not and the presumption
that others are unrighteous when they are in fact
justified before God through their repentance.
As to the first misjudgment, in a fallen state, our
ego strives to preserve an idealized, but inaccurate
self-concept about what “good and upstanding” people
we are, reminding us that, “We pray. We go to
church. We take care of our family. We don’t cheat
anyone. We are essentially good persons.”
And yet we usurp this goodness as though it is ours
through our own efforts, apart from God and the only
source of that which is genuinely good. And we allow
this seeming goodness to become a cloak that
obscures our other sins and failings for which we
should repent. As to the second misjudgment, if our
judgment about someone else is wrong, we not only
judge, but also slander. If our judgment is correct,
we still may be in danger of separating ourselves
from others, of thinking of ourselves as being
better than they are, of becoming unwittingly
self-righteous, and of failing to love our enemies.
In an earlier post, I wrote, “And lo, Zachaeus’s
self-concept changed radically from that blessed
meeting with the Lord. He understood himself now in
terms of God’s compassionate understanding of
Zachaeus that in turn made Zachaeus all the more
compassionate towards others.” When one’s attention
descends into the heart in humble prayer, believers
begin to see themselves in relation to God and their
abiding need and desire for purification and
illumination. Such an awareness leaves little room
for judging others. In response to a recent blog
comment, I wrote, “I think your statement “holding
people accountable when the relationship warrants
it” is important. There are many cases when the
relationship does not warrant it. And outside of the
clear examples of parents and their young children
as well as priests and their flocks, it is best to
be wary of what we should hold others to. Loving unconditionally is
certainly unconditional, as is holding ourselves
accountable to others and to God. As far as
the accounts of others are concerned, however, we
tread carefully and lovingly if we tread at all. No
there are no easy answers, but the heart can sense
when what is being done or said is being done from
love with kindness and compassion. Simplicity is, of
course, a great virtue. Those monks who
literally managed to not judge anyone, to hold no
one to account for anything, were simple, guileless
souls that reached salvation to a large extent by
their refusal to ever judge anyone and by their
commitment to always judge themselves. The result
was an abyss of humility and from humility and
abundance of holiness. Of course, simple monks have
such a luxury. But for those whose circumstances
allow it, such a way is truly blessed.”
When we are engaged in the spiritual struggle or
when we recognize the great gift inherent in the
prayer of the Publican, we cease to search for
circumstances or conditions in which we are really
justified in judging our brother. Remembrance of
God, vigilance in matters of the heart, and the
striving for humility leave little room for those
types of pursuits.
When we pray with the humility and honesty of the
Publican we recognize that the temptation to judge
others is nothing more than a fool’s errand, taking
us off course and onto crooked and perverse paths
that lead us away from our ultimate goal, the love
of our merciful Savior who “makes His sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, sends rain on the
just and on the unjust,” and promises that
those who judge not will not be judged.
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