We establish standards of living all the time and expect one another to adhere to them. If the standard of driving down a particular highway is 65mpi and the radar shows you going at 80mpi, then the court may have a judgement against you. The judgement is that you were speading.
So it goes, we establish measurable behavior standards and are able to judge whether or not the behavior is meeting the standard, below it, above it, compliant with it, violating it. We can lable some standards as right behavior or wrong behavior. And we can judge the behavior accordingly.
Case: I knew a couple of Indian guys in the Pacific NorthWest when I was young. We planted trees together in the forest. When the season was over they had no way of making money. So, they would go to town, break into a liquor store steal all the booze they could carry. They would then throw a party for all their friends. If they didn't get caught, they would do it again and again until they did. The reason was that they wanted to show their friends and good time and would be given a warm, dry place with food and clothing for the off work season. This behavior is judged as bad, and illegal. Do I judge their character or the condition of their souls...no, absolutely not. It is quite possible that their eternal judgement for these actions will be that they had compassion and served their friends well and that they deserve some sort of reward for it. This is where I see the application of “Judge not lest ye be Judged.” I’m not Christian by the way. However, they should go to jail for robbing the liquor store.
I grant you that bad judgements are often made by individuals, and even whole groups. However, refusing to use judgement of any kind is poor judgement and leads to greater harm being done. |
