Judged

That big-nosed (for sticking it where it isn't wanted, I guess) man on the left waving an accusatory finger is a narrow-minded, superstitious, uneducated, anti-science boob who can't think for himself believer in fairy tales.

At least that is the way my portrait was painted in a rather aggressive email I receive some six months ago.

I don't think all those things are true. Surely my nose isn't that big!

The biggest surprise about this email was it came out of a clear blue cyber sky from someone I don't know and never heard of and it told me to rethink my request to be her Facebook Friend.

I beg your pardon? I had never heard tell of this personage. What am I doing? Am I making Friend requests in my sleep?

The person began by stating, "I am an Atheist," which is a fairly empathic declaration of faith. Yes, faith, it takes faith to be an Atheist, too.

Okay, fine, and I am a Christian.

We are both human beings.

As a human being you are allowed to choose to be an Atheist if that is what you believe. I'm going to recognize we will have a somewhat different worldview, not see everything quite the same way, but we still have a lot of humanity in common to build a casual relationship upon do we not? We share the same world and struggles within it. And being a Christian doesn't necessarily make me better or worse than anyone else, although that email certainly painted me to be dumber than the average bear.

What I understand as a Christian is God loves all his creatures, even if all his creatures don't believe in Him or His Son.

Ah, but there's the rub. I might say something about God and Christ and love and creatures (can't say creatures since that implies a creator) and all that...uh...fairy tale stuff.

Now granted, since you are an admitted Atheist and I am an admitted Christian, I will have some concerns about your future beyond this world that you won't have. I might even go into my room and pray for you, but...shhh...whispering here...it isn't because I hate you. Please forgive me for doing that. Just as you as an Atheist believes all that is unnecessary, I as a Christian believe it is.


My friendships have never been built on the labels the world, nature or an individual has pinned upon their sleeve. My list of friends includes blacks and whites and browns and yellows. (I never actually had a red friend, although you might count my wife as pinkish, that is, she is one-quarter Creek.) My friends are male and female, heterosexual and homosexual, skinny and fat, tall and short, Christian and non-Christian, Jew and gentile and Arab, too. I have God-fearing friends and "Maybe-there-is-a-God-I-just-don't-know" friends, and friends who believe in nothing. I have Democrat and Republican, Progressive (whatever happened to Liberals, because I was sure I used to have more Liberal friends than anything and now nobody says they're Liberals), Conservative and downright confused about-it-all friends. I have even been on good speaking terms with a couple of Communists. I'm an equal-opportunity friendly guy.

It has been this way all my life. I've judged my friends for "the content of their character" long before Martin Luther King used that phrase in his most famous speech.

Uh, did I just use a bad word, "Judged". Oh dear, sorry, I forgot, "Judge not, lest so you be judged." Somebody said something like that. It wasn't King. Now , who was it? Let me think about it.

While we do that, here is the core of the email sent to me.

"I have little patience with people that feel they have to "share" with me, I've been there, done that. Science always wins. I am well educated in world religions and have no need to follow it up with superstition or fairy tales. With that said, I do agree with the old saying, "to each his own", but that doesn't mean I want them (bible thumpers) "sharing" with me on my page ....Understand?

"I prefer people who can think for themselves."


If you really think about it, this is a very insulting letter to send to any Christian, especially one who doesn't even know you. 




So, how do I respond to this email? Let me start by saying I think this person is...


Wait, "Judge not, lest you be judged?"  It's coming back to me.  "Judge not, that ye be not judged."  Of yeah, Matthew 7:1 and Jesus said it.


See this becomes a reverse Catch-22, doesn't it? If I criticize some bad behavior, this gets thrown at me by those who don't believe in Jesus in the first place. They get to stand in judgment of me, but I am restricted from making any judgment about them. It ends up being used to excuse any kind of excessive behavior one wishes to engage in then. 


Well, isn't that illogical? If I am walking down the street and a purse snatcher jumps from an alley to grab an old lady's pocketbook, I am to just go on my way. She struggles to hold on and he takes out a knife and begins to stab her, and I am not allowed to judge this person. 


Now just a minute, that is an extreme example. Yes, but it makes it no less valid. It says, "Judge not, that ye be not judged," not Judge only in cases of blatant extreme violence of one person against another, right? 


Unless, perhaps, it might be talking about something else, you know, something more in context of what the Bible teaches overall. There are certainly passages exhorting us to judge, aren't there? Maybe what we are talking about here is gossipy types of judgement, superficial ones based on faulty premises and prejudices. Or maybe we are talking about hypocritical judgments. Maybe we are talking about the wrong way to introduce ourselves to someone else. Perhaps it is the wrong way to present the Christian message?


I think if we extend the passage fully I might even be justified to some extend if I began judging this email writer in harsher tones than she without provocation judged me. I won't, but Matthew 7:1-2 (KJV) is saying that is what she should expect to happen. 

Judge not, that ye be not judged. 

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Or as the NIV translates Luke 6:37 and Matthew 7:1-2:

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." 

You see, if you go around superficially judging others without careful examination you must expect they will do the same to you. I judge you, then you judge me. Then what do we have? Just a lot of who shot John going on. We have anger and further misinterpretations and no one wins. 


I was judged and found wanting without this person ever getting to know me simply because she has preconceived ideas of what a Christian is. Sad to say many times we Christians do the same thing. We judge first and quickly condemn and confront. From a comment later in her email she may have experienced just that at times in her life, been judged by Christians without a true trial, and now she is measuring it back on me. We can judge bad behavior; otherwise, how to we know not to engage in bad behavior? But how do we ever know a person's needs if we hit them over the head with the guilty stick before we even say hello? How do we ever do what we were commissioned to do if we have condemned our neighbor already?


It is so easy to jump to conclusions, isn't it? We know who isn't going to Heaven, right? We have out list of wrongdoers:  the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, sodomizers, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers. Well, before we are quick to judge, remember to whom Paul said that and what came at the end of the passage in 1 Corinthians 6:   "And that is what some of you were." Yes, and so were some of us.


You don't begin the relationship with judgment, you begin it with love of your neighbor and an Atheist or whatever is your neighbor. You be the good Samaritan; God will be the judge.


And I still say my nose isn't that big.

 

If the End Were Near: A Variation on a Peter Pollock Post

In a recent post at Peter Pollock. com  he began by asking a particular question: "If you knew for absolutely certain that Christ was coming again this time tomorrow, what would you do?"

There will be no Spoiler Alert. If you want to know what his answer was to the question you will have to click on the link and read it yourself.

The question that came to my mind on reading his post was this: Would you want to know for certain that Christ was coming again this time tomorrow?


For most Christians I would imagine the first knee-jerk reaction is, "Yes!"

I'm not certain that is the best answer. Jesus said no one knew when that moment would be, not even the Angels, and it would come in a blink of the eye. God must have had a reason why this would not be known ahead of it happening. Now the Bible indicates that God is a patience Deity who doesn't want to see anyone perish and he delays until the last possible soul has been redeemed. But the idea the date isn't known to us because God keeps putting it off for that reason doesn't make sense. God already knows who that soul is and when they will be saved. So what difference would it make to know the date?


It doesn't seem it is the need for something to be in place to make the fulfillment of some End Time prophesy possible either. You know, like satellites and the internet and television and all the things that would allow the world to see an event when it happens. Or super computers that would let some central government to control all our affairs. As far as I know everything is in place that would allow the very last days to begin. But even if there was something else, God knows what it is and when it will be invented. Why not tell us the date?


God knows us much better than we know ourselves of course. Maybe it is for our sake we aren't told the exact date. We probably wouldn't react sensibly at all and probably not at all as The Lord has told us to.


And who all would know this exact time with certainty, everybody or just true believers? There was a movie back in the early 1950s called "The Next Voice You hear". It starred James Whitmore and Nancy Davis (later Nancy Reagan). In this film a voice claiming to be God is suddenly heard on everybody's radio each evening for six days. The movie is about the effect this had on the characters' lives. 


If something like that happened, with God suddenly declaring on the radio or TV that in 24 hours The Lord would return I expect the reaction would be similar to some of the fictional movie. Many people would think it a hoax, some would take it seriously and the government would launch an investigation. But I'm not so sure it would change much. People always say why doesn't God just speak up and then we'll believe. You know if God did, people still wouldn't believe in him. After all, he did that once and look what happened.


Perhaps the message would just come to the believers. What if Saturday evening you went to sleep and sometime in the night you had a dream. In the dream an Angel appears and says, "Fear not and rest assured, for I am Gabriel, a messenger from God and I am announcing that Our Lord will return at 9:00 AM Monday morning." 

When you awake in the morning you remember this dream vividly. You come down to breakfast and tell it to your spouse and your spouse says, "I had the exact same dream. Hmm, interesting coincidence." So you go off to church. The service is about to start, but instead of the usual beginning your Pastor steps to the podium looking very serious. He tells you he had this dream, your dream, and that he called the minister of such-and-such church and that man had the same dream and he tells the dream. And then many people about you, not all, but most are nodding their heads that they also had that dream.  (As an aside, given the dress of the family in this picture, the Rapture must have occurred in the early 1950s.)


Now what? Do you all form groups and swarm into the neighborhood to knock on doors and warn those who aren't in any church that they must repent? Why not, a lot of people think we Christians are nuts anyway so this won't hurt? It probably won't do much good either. 


Or do you sort of panic yourself. Am I sure about my own salvation? Am I ready? Have I done enough? Am I really ready to give up all this stuff I have here on earth? It is always easier to say we are ready and we want the Lord to come soon than to know it is actually about to happen.


It is also easy to say we know he could come at any moment that He could come before I type another




                                    word.

I don't doubt we are honest when we say we expect the Lord to return at any moment, I just wonder if we would really grasp the reality if we knew it was upon us slightly ahead of time. You know, like we expect to die someday. We know we could die at any minute. But do we grasp that reality? We could get in our car, head for work and get killed by some aggressive driver on the interstate. How much to we actually consider such a thing? Probably about as much as you really consider that Christ could return in the next moment. As much as we accept the truth we could die at any moment, I don't think many of us expect to die today. As much as we accept the truth of the prophecy, I don't think many of us expect Christ to come today. We say at any moment, but in our mind we always see it somewhere in the future.


I actually think God designed it that way.

If you were given absolute proof that it would happen twenty-four hours from now you would probably be overwhelmed with anxiety, guilt and sorrow. You would think of those you know and those you love that don't believe. People close to you who are not saved. You will probably realize there is little that can be done in one day. You will feel guilty because you will feel you never did enough to save them or others, that you did too much during your life for yourself and not enough for others, even if you did a lot for others. You will feel great sorrow for these people and terrible because you let them down. You'll begin to take a burden on to yourself that isn't yours to bear.


It other words, it is better not to know the exact date and time. I think God has spared us that anxiety.

Of course there are some people who believe they do know the exact date. They put up billboards even announcing it. Some think it was all foreseen in the Long Count Calendar used by the Mayans and some think they have unwoven exact timelines within the Bible. We will see how close they come in the not so distant future. At least we will if the Lord doesn't come tomorrow or next week or at a moment we least expect him. Remember those key words from His own lips, "When you do not expect Him."


My personal opinion is if we claim we know the exact date we are calling The Lord a liar.


I pray I am always alert and watching, but I still prefer I not know exactly.

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

   “Be on guard! Be alert! Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when that time on what day your Lord will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Matthew 24:36-44 and Mark 13:32-37 (NIV)

To Wait or Not To Wait, that is Not the Question. That is the Answer.

I thank you for your patience. I've been away from this Blog a long time, six months in fact. Perhaps you thought, "He's gone away and not returning". But here I am, I'm not dead and gone.

I just popped back probably when you didn't expect it or even forgotten about me.

Hmmm, maybe there is a message in that beyond this silly blogger's posts.

 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 2 Peter 3:8-10 (NIV)

Who better to show us patience can be learned than Peter, a very impatience man.

What got me thinking about patience was a post at Tamela's Place,  "Becoming Calm and Submissive Goes for Humans Too". 

"Patience is a virtue" is a popular saying. I don't know who said it. I do know the Bible teaches it and it is a virtue. There are other popular sayings about patience that seem contradictory.

"Everything comes to him who waits." "He who hesitates is lost."


Now how can that be?


It can be because of the verses quoted. We, who are Christian, must wait. We wait for the return of the Lord and in the meantime we wait for death. Our patience and belief will be rewarded with everything promised. And while we wait, we must show by our patience and our love for those who are not Christian that they cannot wait.


We do not know when our Lord will return. Usually we do not know when we will die. If either of those assured events should fall upon us in unbelief we will be lost. The Lord will come as a thief in the night. Death may come in the very next second. Hesitation is not advised; he who hesitates is lost. 

I Guess Some Things Change

The Old Goat's been cleaning out the clutter of years lately. Buried in a box of forgotten and useless papers was an AAA Triptik. It was from the second year of his marriage when The Kid and his fairly new bride went on a vacation through Virginia. Amazingly, The Kid had made notes on the journey.

They started out early in the morning of August 11, heading south from Pennsylvania down through Delaware. The first day was just to get down into Virginia via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. (The photo to the left was taken from the bridge.) They stopped and stayed at the Admiralty Motel-Hotel in Norfolk that first night. It was a fairly upscale motel and the room fee was $12.00.

On the way down the had lunch at the Dover, Delaware Howard Johnson's.  Back in those days you didn't have to travel far to see a Ho-Jo's along the road. They use to be the exclusive rest stop along the miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and there was one not far from where The Kid grew up that he had visited often in his youth. They're all gone now, of course.

The Kid had the Hot Turkey Sandwich and Mrs. Kid got the Tuna-Egg Salad Bowl. That lunch came to $3.70 including the tip. Cost the Kid more in tolls that day, which were $4.65.

They had a 1961 Studebaker Lark in those days. The Kid had bought the car just before they wed. The Kid also had dark hair; heck, The Kid had hair period, back in the 'sixties.

They ate dinner in the Admiralty Mayfair Room. Mrs. Kid had the Shish-kabob and a strawberry parfait. The Kid gobbled down more turkey, this time the full Roast Turkey Dinner topped off with a chocolate parfait. Parfaits were a pretty popular and common menu item at the time. Total dining bill, including tip, was pretty high, $8.50.

In the morning it was off to Williamsburg.

Sharing Another's Request

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV

Gigi, over at her Blog, "In the Throne Room" http://gigi-inthethroneroom.blogspot.com/ felt strongly about the need for prayer for our nation, that she asked this particular site be shared. 

I feel strongly, as a Christian, that prayer is the best way we can help our country, any country, so I am passing along this link for Gigi:

Give Prayer a Chance