Condition Critical

An interesting thing happened during the opening worship of the 213th General Assembly. As the service began, the congregation stood to sing the first anthem. A great parade of banners, each representing one of our presbyteries, made its way down the center aisle. As the procession reached the “chancel,” it divided - half went to the right; half went to the left. Each banner was placed in a flag stand along the hall’s side walls.

But the stands didn’t hold. Before long, the banners began to cascade to the floor. They fell like dominoes - each in turn taking out another, then another, then another. One set of banners hit the table that held the communion bread and wine. Chalices and patens were knocked to the floor. Clay vessels smashed, wine was spilled. Some people jumped up to sweep up the shards, mop the wet floor and stop the cascade. But the banners kept falling. All through worship, the banners tottered and tumbled, defeating every attempt to shove them back into place, or even just to hold them steady. But for the most part, the “solemn assembly” continued without pause.

Sylvia Dooling, the director of Voices of Orthodox Women, wrote that it seemed to symbolize our brokenness as a church - and, maybe, even the judgment of God. “It’s Humpty Dumpty time,” she said. You remember the nursery rhyme... “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.”

The first Presbytery meeting I went to after that reminded me of that moment. One of my colleagues stood and asked the Presbytery to face squarely the fact that we are a divided church; the response from one of our most active elders was to deny that anything was wrong.

There were three things that happened at General Assembly which pointed to this conclusion.

The first was the routine dismissal of all the overtures dealing with abortion. Commissioners even voted down a request for parental notification - not consent, mind you, just notification - before the Benefits Plan would pay for an abortion for a girl under 18.

The second sign that there was something seriously wrong at this year’s assembly was the fact that we had over an hour of debate on whether or not Jesus Christ is the only one by whom we can be saved. A watered-down version was finally passed. But who would have thought that any Christian - let alone Presbyterians - would ever find it necessary to argue that point?

And the last thing was the 60-40 vote to remove the language in the constitution which requires fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness for all ordained officers.

So I’ve been judging like crazy all week. I think I think we’re dealing with denial, dishonesty, and outright disobedience. I think, in fact, that the decisions the commissioners made were not only erroneous, but sinful.

Am I wrong? Am I in violation of Jesus’ commandment not to judge?

How many times have you heard someone say, “Who am I to judge?” or “I know we are not to judge, but ...” or “That’s being judgmental,” with the clear meaning that “it’s unchristian to say something is wrong.”

What did Jesus mean when he said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged”?

Was he saying that Christians shouldn’t have any opinions? Does it mean that Christians should never criticize anyone? Does it mean that we must be tolerant of all points of view, all “lifestyles,” all choices, all religions? Does it mean that Christians should stop preaching the gospel because the cross is foolishness to the Greek and a stumbling block to the Jews?

In case you were in any doubt, the answer to all of these questions is “No.”

When Jesus said “Judge not” he wasn’t telling his disciples never to judge. In fact, in the very next verse we read, “Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine.” Here Jesus was clearly instructing us to make judgments, not of literal dogs and pigs, but of people. We have to discern who people are and not waste the gospel on those who mock it, who despise it. Jesus calls such people pigs and dogs because they are unclean and dangerous. We are called to judge such people.

Later on Jesus warns his disciples again, saying, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” [Mt 7:15] Here again Jesus was telling us to exercise judgment. He was speaking about religious teachers who preach their personal preferences instead of God’s truth, trapping their followers in lies that lead to spiritual death. These people are as much to be feared as wolves.