Don't Be Too Quick To Judge

May 13, 2013

DON'T BE TOO QUICK TO JUDGE

"Why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents' sins?" -John 9:2 (NLT)


In Bible times, the popular perception was that physical affliction was the result of spiritual shortcomings. Leprosy, paralysis, blindness-they were all forms of God's punishment for some secret sin. So when the disciples crossed paths with a man who had been blind since birth, they naturally asked Jesus who sinned.



His answer was surprising: "It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins," Jesus answered. "This happened so the power of God could be seen in him." John 9:3 (NLT)



The physical problem wasn't connected to a spiritual problem. On the contrary, the problem was the perfect set up for Jesus to reveal Himself as the Light of the World, which was a lesson in and of itself (John 9:4-41).



But let's focus on the lesson at hand. The disciples had misjudged this man. They saw his situation and were quick to assume the worst. Jesus gently corrected them because the disciples needed to learn to slow down their judgment process and instead spend some time walking around in the person's shoes.



Discipleship isn't devoid of exercising judgment. Jesus even warned us that we would have to judge and test things from time to time (Matthew 7:15-20). But there's a difference between exercising sound judgment and rushing to conclusions concerning someone's character.



If we're going to be faithful disciples who rightly represent Jesus, we need to straddle the fine line of exercising our God-given judgment without being too quick to judge.