Judging the Judgers

Jesus did not mean to jettison the notion of rules and laws altogether. There is no doubt that clear rules and standards of acceptable behavior are important for people to live together. People need to be able to appeal to a standard apart from their own will and desire. So far, so good.

The danger is that rather than becoming standards by which persons can be corrected, misunderstandings rectified and reconciliation and restoration achieved, judgment based on the particular application of some rules and not others can serve as an instrument of those with social power against those without it.

Rules and standards are, at their best, norms that work to equalize social power, not magnify it. One of the great dangers is that one can garner social power through allying in a self-righteousness that fails to notice one's own selective awareness of who is violating the rules.

Jesus was clear, "Judge not, that you not be judged." We are invited to help one another live together, and be open to how others are correcting us as well.