CREDIT: THE MIRIAM AND IRA D. WALLACH DIVISION OF ART, PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS: PRINT COLLECTION, THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY. "LAST JUDGMENT" THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY DIGITAL COLLECTIONS. 1515.
Jesus taught a way of life that is at the same time hopeful, but also daunting. One of his more diffi cult teachings is that we must avoid all judgmentalism.

There are a lot of books about God. Chapters and Amazon have the newer ones ready for purchase and shipping. The Quran, one of the older ones, is available through the Muslim community. The Bhagavad Gita, another ancient revered text, comes from the Hindu tradition.

The Christian Bible is of course among those older books about God and is the most promising one going. Jewish writers wrote it almost entirely over a period of probably about 1,500 years. It is actually not a book but a library of 66 books or scrolls, booklets and letters. It represents the story of God working with people over a long period of time.

At the heart of the Bible are the four accounts of Jesus’ life. They differ in many respects just as four portraits of one person by four different artists would also differ. However, they tell a consistent story that has captivated people everywhere. Even in regions where Christians are persecuted, for example in what’s left of Communist countries and in current Muslim regions, the person of Jesus continues to attract followers.

Jesus taught a way of life that is at the same time hopeful, but also daunting. One of his more difficult teachings is that we must avoid all judgmentalism.

None of us likes to think of ourselves as judgmental, but if the truth be told, the temptation is never far away. When I see someone panhandling for change in Toronto I am tempted to think the person should get a job. I read about someone who is the victim of a crime and am tempted to think that they probably chose the wrong people to hang out with, so it’s their fault. I read about terror attacks in Paris and am tempted to think of the perpetrators merely as monsters.

Sometimes we like to think that in Canada judgmentalism is declining. It might be, but it remains alive and well. It takes little research to prove that. We only have to check our Facebook feeds to find judgmental posts about prime ministers past and present, about celebrity fashion choices, about public figures accused of serious offenses and about the coaches of losing teams.

Alarmingly, Jesus links judgmentalism to verbal abuse, acts of violence and even murder. Referring to an older Jewish religious command, “You shall not murder,” Jesus affirms it, but then calls upon us to examine what is going on in our own hearts. That is where the root of violence and murder lie. That’s where we find the toxin of judgmentalism.

Jesus notices that we are tempted to take offense at the perceived failures of others and to overlook our own. That is why he calls for a renovation of our hearts, of the cluster of values, thoughts and emotions that move us to do what we do.

But one twist: in the end Jesus does allow for some judgmentalism, but not in response to others. Instead he teaches that if there is any judging to be done it should be done while looking in the mirror.

“Remove the things in your life which obviously cause offense before you even think of trying to set someone else straight,” says Matthew 7:5 in the Bible.

Would our world look different if we took Jesus seriously on this matter? Of course, it would impact murder statistics, no doubt it already does.

But also, how might this teaching of Jesus impact what we post and find on our social networking platforms? How might it impact the words you and I speak today? How might it impact employer-employee negotiations that we might be involved in? How might it impact international diplomacy and decisions to embark on wars or not?

I think that the teaching of Jesus on judgmentalism opens the way to a number of things. It encourages serious self-reflection for the individual, serious self-appraisal for communities such as nation states and a serious willingness to understand the other, rather than to throw stones or worse. Jesus’ teaching on judgmentalism is one of the many that opens the door to a new and hopeful way to live.
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