We have a merciless judgmentalism built into every aspect of American life, and it is just getting worse. We beat to death everyone who doesn’t do what we expect them to do, who isn’t what we demand they be, and we often fail to make space for anyone who does not conform to our opinions.
The part of this that gets me is that this same mentality has infected the Church. And in some ways, it expresses itself most strongly there. We seem to have lost entirely the reality that it is God who raises up people and lays them low, that God orders our steps, that unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain. We put it all on the individual, and if the individual fails in any way, we never seem to ask whether God is doing something different in that person’s life. Instead, we condemn. Instead, we browbeat. Instead, we demand conformity. We never seem to ask whether God is the one doing all this. We never ask if the losing is actually winning when it comes to what God is doing. We can’t tarry long enough to see the outcome, so we judge and move on.
We have a merciless judgmentalism built into every aspect of American life, and it is just getting worse. We beat to death everyone who doesn’t do what we expect them to do, who isn’t what we demand they be, and we often fail to make space for anyone who does not conform to our opinions.
The part of this that gets me is that this same mentality has infected the Church. And in some ways, it expresses itself most strongly there. We seem to have lost entirely the reality that it is God who raises up people and lays them low, that God orders our steps, that unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain. We put it all on the individual, and if the individual fails in any way, we never seem to ask whether God is doing something different in that person’s life. Instead, we condemn. Instead, we browbeat. Instead, we demand conformity. We never seem to ask whether God is the one doing all this. We never ask if the losing is actually winning when it comes to what God is doing. We can’t tarry long enough to see the outcome, so we judge and move on.
Good grief, do we need to repent of this.