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The Summer Olympics is one of the most exciting two weeks of sports that take place every four years. Many of the sports have clear cut winners, who compete against each other in timed events, or in scoring competitions. Swimming, Track and Field, Soccer and Beach Volleyball all have outcomes based on measurable results.
However, there are other sports where the winner is determined based on the judgement of others.....Gymnastics, diving, and trampoline (yes, that is actually an Olympic event) are examples of some of these sports. I always find it so interesting that by the end of the games, everyone has become an expert on how to judge these events, especially gymnastics. With little or no knowledge of the sport, people remark about how the scoring was either too high, or too low for a given performance. These athletes are then "judged" as a champion or failure based on the opinion of others.....
What if you worked your entire life to be perfect at your job, and then one day, people who knew very little about your profession came to your place of work and judged you based upon their opinion of your performance on that day....My point is, that it is very easy for us to sit back and judge the performance and action of others, but are not nearly as comfortable when the roles are reversed and we feel like we are the ones being judged.
In Paul's letter to the Romans, he discusses the topic of people judging each other. He warns against judging others for actions they have taken, when you may very well carry out the same actions. He warns us that we need to be aware that when we are hypocrites, God judges us even more harshly,
Paul is very serious in his warning about how important it is to worry about your own actions and not be quick to point out the shortcomings of others.....especially if we are guilty of the same thing! Let's look at this example from a leadership perspective. The leader that tells his people to work hard, be honest, and give your best, has little or no credibility when he is caught leaving work early to go play golf. It is our job to set the example of what Godly behavior should be, not because we are trying to be better than others, but because that is the respect and thanks that God requests for being his children.
Much like the hypocritical boss loses credibility, so does the Christian who is quick to call out what is wrong with others, yet slow to monitor their own behavior. These people do more harm to the name of the Lord than the many who choose not to believe, because they send a false message that Christians are above others.
Paul, however, reminds us in Romans 2:8 "God will give to each person according to what he has done." I think this is where people lose sight of things.....God has a long memory. If you go through life busy calling out what everyone else is doing wrong, while not acknowledging your own faults, you are setting yourself up for a very harsh judgement day. Another caveat of human judgement is that we are not aware of ALL of the circumstances that a person is dealing with as we judge them. We are only capable of seeing them through our filter. Only God has the ability to understand the entire situation and then be able to deliver a fair verdict.
To turn back to the Olympics for an example....Jordyn Weiber was the world champion in ladies gymnastics. She was a favorite to win multiple gold medals at the London games this year. It was her year to shine. As she worked through her routines on the first night, time after time, her performances seemed to fall just short. The judges gave her lower scores than normal, and the commentators found "chinks in the armor". In the end she missed going to the all-around finals by the slightest of margins. She was devastated, but came back the next time to help her team win a gold medal. However, she only qualified for one event final, which she finished poorly on.....Some would say that she "under performed"....others might say that she "choked".....The questions is, when those same people found out that she had gone through the entire competition with a stress fracture in her leg, but never complained and still gave her all, would they feel the same way?
Take Paul's caution seriously.....Judgement is another form of pride in practice. It is a dangerous game to play....This doesn't mean that, as leaders, we shouldn't have high expectations of people, and hold them accountable for their actions. It does mean that we are equally accountable for our own. While it may be our job to set expectations and make corrections to behaviors, it is not our place to judge the motivation or the substance of the person....That is for God's determination
