The Danger of Judgment Jun 16 2009

"Stop judging by mere appearances…" Jesus Christ - John 7:24a

Just after the Olympic bombings, it was a well-known thought that security guard Richard Jewel was the culprit. The FBI had focused on him as its prime suspect and many newspapers considered his arrest immanent. But today, we know that Richard Jewel was innocent. Not only that, he was a hero who saved dozens of lives. Sadly, Richard Jewel lived his remaining days with many people still thinking he had gotten away with murder.

Most recently, Susan Boyle, who recently performed on the U.K. television show "Britain's Got Talent," has captured the world's attention. Boyle is a 47-year-old unemployed charity worker who lives with her cat in a small village in Scotland. As soon as she walked on stage, the audience began to snicker and roll their eyes. Simon Cowell, the show's host, asked her some questions in his famously condescending style. She answered awkwardly and everyone snickered. By now, if you don't know the story, you could guess it, right? She more than wowed them. She opened her mouth to sing, and, as judge Piers Morgan later said, she had "the voice of an angel." She wasn't painfully ordinary; she was extraordinary. The audience began to applaud and she finished to a standing ovation with many people in tears.

Many times, we make a snap judgments about people, and often, we are wrong. Jesus tells us not to judge. There is a strong chance that we might be wrong. An innocent person’s life could be destroyed or we could miss out on being blessed by them.

Let’s be about loving others and let God take care of the judging.

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