Judgmentalism

This is my response to someone saying about the Bible being used in hate talk.

I am really very sorry. I do apologise for the rudeness and thoughtlessness of some people who claim to be christians. I can assure you that Jesus himself never behaved like that. He did get into big trouble with religious authorities for accepting dinner invitations from anyone, absolutely anyone who invited him.

In the bible in the new testament the traveling teacher Paul wrote a letter to a church he'd had a close association with in Corinth, Greece. He challenged them on a number of issues where their behaviour was not matching up to their claims as christians (the famous chapter 13 'love is patient, love is kind' passage is a summing up of the issues he's talked about in the rest of the letter). One thing was that there was a publicly known case of incest going on and no one was doing anything about it. However, having told them off about tolerating behaviour amongst themselves that even 'pagans' wouldn't tolerate he did then warn them about judgmentalism, weed out 'sinful' behaviour within the church family, but don't start on those outside the church.

"I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside." (1 Corinthians 5 v 9-13
New International Version (NIV)) 
 
 Still in the context of the Bible being used to hate - which if we are honest has been done and is still being done. :

In the biographies of Jesus, the 'gospels', it becomes pretty obvious when you start reading : Jesus only talks about hell or punishment when he's talking with 'religious' people, who he pulls to pieces for putting huge religious burdens on people that they can't possibly live up to and in fact he points out that the religious people are not even keeping their own noses clean to boot (hypocrisy) - they might be trying to keep bits of the law, but they'd lost sight of the whole point of the law - love, to treat your neighbour like you'd want to be treated yourself.

However when he talks to 'the man in the street' he tells them encouraging things about what God is like, stories and images using day to day things they would understand and identify with. He avoids religious words. He uses a lot of agricultural pictures, but he also talks about businessmen, managers, treasure hunters, parties, weddings and more. In my reading of this he assumes that most people don't need to be told they are 'sinners' ie having missed the mark when it comes to God's glory (from the word synne a word in archery meaning when your arrow does a belly flop in front of the target, it was as popular as football in those days, everyone would know what it meant) they know it, and are left in no doubt about it by the people who think they're religious, but they do need reassuring that God is for them.

The famous, if not infamous quotes that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" and "the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life" are both from the letter Paul wrote to the Jewish christians in Rome who were saying the christians from a pagan background couldn't be real christians if they didn't become Jews. Paul writes to them and says that it's not their Jewishness that saves them, they start off on the same level playing field as everyone else ie at the bottom. To apply these words just to the general public out of context is to my mind criminal.
 
 
 Here are some examples of some things Jesus said on the subject of judgmental attitudes :

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.... For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.(Luke 6 v 37-42)

"Now the tax collectors [officials who were collaborators with the invading Romans and who lined their own pockets too] and 'sinners' ['off-side'] were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine 'righteous' persons who do not need to repent." (Luke 15v1-7) [some people told Shepherd jokes at the time like we tell Irish jokes, this shepherd is daft as a brush but incredibly kind]

"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18 v9-14)

All quotes from the NIV translation of the Bible