Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another?
This is a great section from Paul, who normally rubs me the
wrong way. In this little bit, he’s urging believers to welcome those who
believe something different, or don’t believe anything at all. Not only welcome
them, but don’t just welcome them to quarrel or try to convince them you’re
right. He says, “Let all be fully convinced in their own minds”, and further
asks why you pass judgment about your brother or sister, or despise your brother
or sister. Go Paul!
His reason for this lack-of-judgment is that we all – believers,
non-believers, nice, mean, red state, blue state – all stand before God for
judgment. An accounting of my life and my worth and my value on this earth will
be made, and it’s entirely and solely between me and God. Likewise my enemy. Go
Paul!
Yesterday, I was listening to a great podcast from Rob Bell
about the book of Ruth. While it was interesting to hear his riff on the
opening chapter of Ruth, what was more interesting was what he did with the
rest of the episode. He said these ancient stories are interesting to us of two
things. First we hear particulars. It’s one thing to hear a platitude about
being a stranger in a strange land. It’s another to hear about Naomi’s particular
story. It’s one thing to read a platitude about following where God leads, it’s
another to hear the back-story behind “where you go, I will go”.
When we hear the particulars, we can put ourselves in the
story. Maybe I’ve never been a woman who’s lost my two sons and husband, but I
can imagine shaking my fist at God as Naomi did. Through these ancient stories,
we can put ourselves. We can imagine their sentiments and develop a strong
sense of empathy – feeling the same way, or being able to put yourself in their
shoes – with the characters we read.
In a way, that’s what I’ve been doing all these months. I’ve
been reading an ancient story, finding what resonates with me this morning, and
reflecting on it, empathizing, and giving particulars in my world that give
flesh to the bones of what I’m reading. In a way, I’m incarnating the old words,
not in any woo-woo way, but by making it real in my world with my particulars.
What this does, according to Rob Bell (and I agree) is that
it increases my ability or insight into other people’s particulars. If I can
see myself in the 1300 BC Ruth and Naomi story, it’s because our human story hasn’t
changed that much despite all that time and space. If that’s true, he argues, maybe
I’m increasing my capacity to either put flesh on the bones of someone else’s
particulars, or see beyond their particulars into the root “where you go, I
will follow” platitude. If I can see myself in Ruth’s story, it’s because I
read Ruth’s story, reflected on Ruth’s story, and saw places where my story is
similar. What if I did that with that person who irks me? What about that
person who disagrees with me, who seems to thwart me at every turn? Who’s
making my life miserable? What if I read their story, or asked about their
story? If I can see myself in Ruth’s story, why wouldn’t the same be true with
them?
It’s in that act of reading stories, praying, and incarnating
those dry ancient texts that make them alive for me today, make them relevant to
me today, that make me join in solidarity with those ancients. If I took the same
time with the Naomi and Ruth’s of today, wouldn’t it take me to the same place?
This morning I’m thinking about how all of our experiences are
shared as human. My story, my heartache, is likely similar to the story and
heartache of my foe. I want to take time to think about their story and their
sentiments. It’s with that sense of solidarity and similarity that it’s much
easier to return to Paul’s warning that we shouldn’t judge others. Their actions
are based on their story, and while it isn’t my story, I bet I’ve got more in
common with their narrative than I know. I want to take the time to hear or
learn about their story, and to see my narrative in theirs. Then we can both
shake our fists at God together.
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