Judge not, lest you be judged . . . ?

There is a teaching in Catholic Moral Theology, rooted in the bible, that tells us we have an obligation to let our neighbor know when they are committing sin. It’s called Fraternal Correction and the obligation occurs first with those who we know to be Christian and hold the same principles of behavior as we do.

Scripture says in effect we are doing them a favor. The hope is they recognize their failure and return to right behavior. By this, you have saved your brother/sister. To remain silent, is an offense against them.

Now some of us respond to this injunction more vigorously than others. They like to correct people. The problem is sometimes we do the “correcting” behind their back in conversation with others. Jesus addressed this when he advised us to take the log out of our own eye first, then we would see clearly to help remove our neighbor’s splinter.

Others of us (perhaps most) are inclined to “just go along”. We close our eyes to the bad stuff happening around us. We don’t want to “get involved”. “It’s none of my business”. This is what happens to me and I bet to you too.

So how do we do the right thing here? How do I know when to speak out and when to remain silent? Certainly the gravity of the situation would require us to act. Serious danger to innocent persons, great scandal to children, a major injustice or unfairness, observed cruelty to others . . . all require us to step forward to witness to goodness, to protect innocence. I think most of us see our duty here. With God’s help let us be up to the test.

But there is something else happening here. You see, along the way of “correcting” someone, we can often end up “judging” them. It is at that point we’ve gone too far, for judgment belongs to God. It can be hard to distinguish between the two (judging/correcting). Let’s see if we can find some guidelines.

–To tell my co-worker that he has his facts wrong or his statement is inaccurate – is correcting. –To say “you’re lying” or “you’re a liar” — is judging.

–To encourage someone to not give up or to “keep on trying” is a way to correct. To call them a lazy quitter is to judge.

–To stress the value of dressing with modesty is correcting. To call someone a tease is judging.

It would seem if there is a name attached to the behavior one is concerned about, chances are I’m judging another person.

So why can’t we judge people? Because we just don’t know the reasons why people do the things they do or the desperate situations in which they must choose. And lacking that knowledge, the goodness or evil of their actions is known only to God. (Remember the woman caught in adultery? “Has no one condemned you?” said Jesus. “Nor do I. Go and avoid this in the future.” This was correction not judgment.)

One key that helps a bit is to try as St. Paul says to “bear with one another”, to accept people as they are with certain weaknesses and faults. Not that we close our eyes to wrong doing, but that we “love the sinner”.

It’s love that brings someone to their senses, not judgment.

Blessings on your week.

Fr. Tim