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Do Not Judge? Jesus on Using a Good Measure [Excerpt by Lois Tverberg]

 

(Excerpt from Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewish Words of Jesus Can Change Your Life by Lois Tverberg.)

 

 Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Mt 7:1 NIV

Few sayings of Jesus have caused more frustration than his words about judging. From everything else Jesus taught, we know Jesus wasn't telling us just to turn a blind eye to sin. So we struggle to find a way to sort out sin without actually calling it that, so that we won't sin by judging. Or we just file this line in the "impossible" category, like "love your enemy" — it sounds great and preaches well, but it's well nigh impossible to actually live out.

 

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But this teaching of Jesus grows much more applicable when we hear how it fits into the wider conversation going on among Jewish thinkers. From centuries before Jesus was born "judging" has been a topic of discussion, filtering down through the millennia to inform Jewish practice right up to today. Jesus was, in fact, building on some wise thinking and bringing it to a new level.

 

"Judging" in Jewish Thought

In about 120 BC, Yehoshua ben Perachia, one of the earliest rabbinic sages, shared the following wisdom: "Judge each person with the scales weighted in their favor." The saying evokes the imagery of the ancient marketplace, where a merchant measures out grain by pouring it into one pan of a hanging scale until it swings level with the weighted side. A friendly shopkeeper will heap a little extra on, letting the pans tilt past the balance point. The idea is that you should "weigh" the deeds of others on the side of generosity. Simply put, give others the benefit of the doubt…

 

Scales1

Vintage balance scales in Spain. Image by L.Miguel Bugallo Sánchez, more info in footer.

 

Jesus employed a similar metaphor about judging: "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38). Jesus too says that we should let our scales of justice fall past the balance point, bestowing on others a little more than they deserve…

In almost every situation, a person can either look for a good or a bad motive behind other people's behavior. The way you choose to interpret others' motives has a profound effect on the way you react to them. Personally, I've found that when I make a habit of trying to "judge favorably," it transforms me into a kinder, more patient person. My attitude grows more loving when I assume the best instead of the worst about the people around me.

Jesus too says that we should let our scales of justice fall past the balance point, bestowing on others a little more than they deserve…

I'm still working on putting this into practice, but imagine the possibilities if I consistently looked at other people in the best possible light… When I heard someone insulting my faith, I might say, "That person must have had a bad experience with the church in order to make him feel that way."

 

 Truly, this small practice can change your entire outlook on life.

 

Question: What's your gut reaction to Jesus' words about judging others favorably?
(A) It's not fair!
(B) Jesus wasn't talking about the jerk I'm dealing with…
(C) It's a sobering lesson.
(D) I can vouch that this brings joy.
Leave your thoughts in a comment on this post.

 

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Learn more about Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus.
Follow Lois Tverberg on Twitter (@LoisTverberg)

- Adam Forrest, Zondervan


(Images & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of Walking in the Dust… Image attribution: By L.Miguel Bugallo Sánchez. (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Lmbuga) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

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Can Telling the Truth Be Evil? [Excerpt by Lois Tverberg]

 

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(Excerpt from Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewish Words of Jesus Can Change Your Life by Lois Tverberg.)

 

Lashon Hara, aka Evil Tongue

What exactly is an "evil tongue"? [When the apostle Peter speaks of an "evil tongue" in 1 Peter 3:8-10, he's quoting Psalm 34:12–13.]

In Hebrew, lashon hara (lah-SHON ha-RAH) is the name that Judaism gives to all types of gossip, slander, and malicious speech…

 We all can see the wrongness of slander — telling lies about others. But believe it or not, we can also do great damage to others without lying. Lashon hara doesn't just include telling lies about others. In fact, this phrase is more commonly used to describe the practice of telling negative truths about others that are unnecessary and damaging.

 

Any sentence that starts with "She is a great person, but it's annoying when she…" is always going to end in lashon hara.

Lashon hara is recounting to your coworkers about how the boss messed up his presentation. It's pointing out to your wife how poorly the worship leader sings. It's complaining to your sister that your husband forgot your birthday yet again.

Any sentence that starts with "She's a great person, but it's annoying when she…" is always going to end in lashon hara. This habit tears down friendships, demeans others, and undermines trust… ["Sharing negative information is generally only permitted in situations where people may be adversely affected if they make a decision without it. For instance, if a friend is considering going into business with someone you know is dishonest." -From Lois's footnote.]

 

Please No Lashon Hara

This sign in Jerusalem reads "Please no lashon hara." Image by Ranbar (cropped by Hidro) (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)...], via Wikimedia Commons.

 

If we genuinely care as much about others as ourselves, we will try to protect their reputations as much as we do our own.

We often justify our words with, "Well … I didn't say anything untrue!" But the Golden Rule states that you shouldn't do to others what you wouldn't want done to you. If you'd be hurt and embarrassed by having your own flaws revealed, you shouldn’t share those of others.

 

Why do we gossip about others? One major reason for lashon hara is our desire to elevate ourselves by tearing others down. Paul has a solution to this problem: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others" (Philippians 2:3–4). If we genuinely care as much about others as ourselves, we will try to protect their reputations as much as we do our own.

 

Question for Discussion: When is it permissible to share information that would hurt someone's reputation? Leave your thoughts in a comment on this post.

 

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Learn more about Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus.
Follow Lois Tverberg on Twitter (@LoisTverberg)

- Adam Forrest, Zondervan


(Images & some styling above are web-exclusive features not included in the text of Walking in the Dust… This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

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When We Don’t Have the Answers [Excerpt by Lois Tverberg]

 

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(Excerpt from Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewish Words of jesus Can Change Your Life by Lois Tverberg.)

 

Disciples Who Don't Always Know

God doesn't answer our every doubt or explain everything to our satisfaction. How can we deal with our inability to know the answers?

 

The book of Job reveals some profound Hebraic wisdom. There too we encounter God’s reluctance to fully divulge himself. Grieved and in agony, Job implores God to explain why he allows the innocent to suffer. After thirty-seven chapters of arguments between Job and his friends, God finally sweeps onto the scene. But when God speaks, he never answers Job's heart-wrenching queries. Rather, he flips the tables and interrogates Job. Job humbly retracts his questions, and God never discloses the answer to the question of the ages.

 

There is wisdom in the humility to be able to say 'I don't know' sometimes, and to let God alone know all things.

But God actually does reveal something to Job through his frustrating "non-answer," when he challenges Job to explain the intricacies of nature and describe how he planted the foundations of the earth. When Job realizes that an infinite chasm separates human and divine intellect, he is utterly humbled. Einstein could explain relativity to an amoeba more easily than God could answer Job. What Job sought to know was utterly beyond his ability to grasp.

 

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God answers Job out of the whirlwind. Image by William Blake [Public Domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

 

God's answer to Job should make all the more sense in light of what we've discovered about the universe. In Isaiah 55:9, God proclaimed, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." To the ancients, the heavens appeared to be a great canopy, perhaps five or ten miles up. But now we realize that the stars are billions of light-years away. It should be all the more apparent that if God revealed even a portion of his wisdom, its sheer magnitude would overwhelm us. We forget that God designed everything from neutrons to galaxies, and that we are just specks in comparison to his unfathomable magnitude. Whole libraries have been written to describe the workings of just one human cell. There is wisdom in the humility to be able to say "I don't know" sometimes, and to let God alone know all things…

 

Neither Job nor his friends knew God's thoughts, but Job at least understood God's great compassion for the hurting. Perhaps God would rather hear us voice angry doubts that show concern for others' pain than to knit ourselves a comfortable theology that shows no love.

 

We honor God more by trying to love as he loves than by trying to know all that he knows.

As Christians, we struggle with how many people suffer in the world unjustly. But we know that in Christ, God willingly suffered as an innocent person to gain forgiveness for our sins. We can always put our trust in God's empathy and goodness, even if we don't know all of his thoughts. Since we are small and finite, we honor God more by trying to love as he loves than by trying to know all that he knows.

 

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Learn more about Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus.

 

Follow Lois Tverberg on Twitter (@LoisTverberg)

 


(*Images above are web-exclusive features and are not included in the text of Walking in the Dust… This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

 

 

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