A lot of Christians buy into the principle, “Stop judging”.

The powers of religion want members to believe that; otherwise the institution must surely be judged also.

But what the Bible says has a context. “Stop judging so that you will not be judged. Otherwise, you will be judged by the same standard you use to judge others. The standards you use for others will be applied to you” (Matthew 7:1-2 God’s Word©).

So, when you judge with love, fairness using a careful examination applied with humility following the process Jesus demanded (Matthew 18:15-17 God’s Word Translation©***), you are on sound ground, spiritually speaking.

Anything else comes from evil. And that should be judged.

***“If a believer does something wrong, go, confront him when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have won back that believer. But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you so that every accusation may be verified by two or three witnesses. If he ignores these witnesses, tell it to the community of believers. If he also ignores the community, deal with him as you would a heathen or a tax collector” (God’s Word Translation©).

The Bible is about God.

Yet people read it for political proofs, religious ideology, for use as a weapon against those with whom they disagree or find unacceptable and as a verification for their own heresies or adrenaline to feed their “I’m-right” ego.

The Bible is about being on God’s Team (with God as the highest honcho) and non-debatable love for each and every one of God’s creations.

If your reading gives you permission to judge and condemn anyone of any time or place, prideful assurance that your doctrine or culture is superior to others, or seems useful as an excuse to abuse or hold power over others, you are not reading The Bible God commissioned, but a social distortion for human justification for wrongdoing.

“The tree had fruit that was good to eat, nice to look at, and desirable for making someone wise [“like a god” Genesis 3:5]” Genesis 3:6.

From the beginning people chose whatever satisfied their personal consumption, titillated them in their vision and set them up to play god.

The Divine Plan was for people to serve in creation, walk with God and nurture each other.

I plan, God being my helper, to follow the Plan and benefit the Community, not my little self-centred, self-created universe. Yes, the price is high, but it is better than the religious vandalism that allows people to mutilate creation and destroy other people.

Human beings have ego. However, those followers of Jesus who have died to self have also crucified the ego.

We compliment people of faith for their help or wisdom under the assumption that those people are more human ego than Godly servant. The mature Christian rejoices when God gets all the glory, for the desire of the humble servant is to do everything “wholeheartedly as though you were working for your real master and not merely for humans” (Colossians 3:23 GW©).

Abba Daniel reported the story of a monk who went to a nobleman’s home where the daughter was demon possessed. On entry the demon slapped the monk through the daughter. The monk, as Jesus commanded, turned the other cheek. The demon is reported to have said, “The commandment of God is destroying me!” and left, and the girl was healed.

When this was reported to the advisor, he gave God the glory, saying “Even the pride of demons falls before humble obedience to the commandments of Jesus Christ.”

No praise to the monk, but only to Jesus.

Do you need compliments and recognition for doing something for Jesus? If so, who is on the throne of your soul? It is likely not the Monarch and Creator of the universe and The Lamb who deserves all “praise, honor, glory, and power” (Revelation 5:13 GW©).

There is a common story across religions of humans wanting to be gods resulting in rebellion, pride and division. Still today there are people who claim to be spiritual, but live with a lust for personal power, not service. They show no respect to anyone (despite deceptive words to the contrary) and use personal perspective to judge everything and everybody. And they are so wrapped up in their infinite wisdom and unshakable “rightness” they have no room for empathy or humility, despite verbal claims of loyalty to these principles.

So, after decades of experience (including much formal training) and a history of victimization based on my race, gender, religious affiliation and economic status I have something to say:

I chose, and still choose, heavenly love. I remain loyal to The Almighty, not to any religious institution, dogma or doctrine. Service to Creator and creation costs everything, but I would rather be tormented as a child of The One Who Made me than have an inflated public image of importance and power. I will continue to confirm the accuracy of my observations of others before I complain about, or condemn, people. Reconciliation with the Family who share this Earth is far better than humiliating others for personal advancement or “proving” superiority of personal ideology. To alter a famous line from a famous poem (“Paradise Lost”), “I would rather be the lowliest servant in the household of The Divine One than a governor in the world of evil and hate.”

I pray I would start hearing people tell me stories of humble collegiality instead of betrayal and self-aggrandizement. I would be filled with a soul-joy if I met more people who thought social responsibility was a higher ideal than personal rights and opinions.

The life I have chosen is to follow, without religious trappings, the Jesus of the Bible: Saviour and Only Judge.