My 2016 Lenten Journey--Day 18

February 27, 2016 ~ Day 18

My 2016 Lenten Journey: Exploring the Gospels to discover what following Jesus and becoming more like him would look like? ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NRSV).

Matthew 7:1-5 ~ This first verse may be the most misunderstood, and certainly the most misapplied verse in the Gospels. In practical application, the overwhelming understanding of this verse, at least insofar as I have seen and heard it applied, is simply, “Don’t judge.” And by that is universally understood, “Don’t react negatively to anyone else.” Period. That’s not it; nor is it a simple verse to understand.

First, in the original language of the New Testament there are two words that can be translated, “to judge.” One means, literally, to condemn. The other, the one used in this verse, means “to discern”, to differentiate, as between good and evil. While the former refers to the sentencing of the guilty, the latter refers to the application of standards.

As is so often the case the misapplication is the result of yanking the verse—or a part of it—out of context. The larger passage is not directly related to judging, but rather to the standards by which we judge. Bottom line, it’s about hypocrisy: criticizing others while there’s dirt under our own fingernails.

The key verse is not verse 1, but verse 3, “Take the log out of your own eye before worrying about the speck in your neighbor’s eye.” Insofar as judging is a part of the meaning, the application would be, “don’t judge others by any standard different than the one by which you judge yourself.”

How many people do you know who are harshly critical of almost everyone else’s driving; but who then drive 85 mph in a 70 mph zone? And then become outraged if ticketed for excessive speed?

Judgmentalism is sinful; but, there are other verses that address it more directly than Matthew 7:1.

If I am to follow Jesus, I cannot live by double standards.

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9 NRSV)

‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NRSV).

That's the way it looks through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim

My 2016 Lenten Journey--Day 16

February 25, 2016 ~ Day 16

My 2016 Lenten Journey: Exploring the Gospels to discover what following Jesus and becoming more like him would look like? ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NRSV).

Matthew: 6:22-24 ~ The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; ²³ but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.” Garbage in/garbage out? Maybe. But, what is a healthy eye or an unhealthy eye? And does the relative health of my outlook change reality? Again, “we see through a glass darkly.”

I did a quick reading in about a dozen English versions, and the word translated here as “healthy” (NRSV and several others) is translated in other versions, “good” or “sound.” The word, in the original language, is “ἁπλοῦς” (pronounced “ah – ploos”), and only the oldest versions, (KJV, Darby, ASV, et. Al.) translate it literally, “single” or “simple,” implying honesty and integrity, the opposite of duplicitous (“two-faced,” “double-dealing,” “deceitful,” etc.).

Thus, “if you see with integrity, your whole body will be full of light; but if you see with a double standard, your whole body will be full of darkness.” The contrast is the crux of this section, which began with, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” And the call for singularity extends through the concluding remarks, “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

So much for a “prosperity gospel;” however, the word “wealth”, like the word "healthy" is more directly and accurately translated in the older versions, “mammon.” It refers to virtually anything related to this physical world.

William Wordsworth captured the spirit of these closing words:

The world is too much with us, late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

If I am to be a slave, at least if I follow Jesus, I can choose my master.us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;— Little we see in Nature that is ours; Whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9 NRSV)

‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 NRSV).

That's the way it looks through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim