Back in the late 1980s, I sat in a circle with other twenty-somethings as a lady demonstrated the wonders of the latest “Whey Health Products.” I had not yet eaten dinner, so the modest demonstration servings she distributed to each of us were just enough to make me hungrier still. However, everyone was complimentary of the lady’s efforts and extolled the virtues of her products. But one person in the room, though no one would have noticed, skipped the taste tests, and smiled the evening away in silence. Later, someone asked her the reason for her sly disinterest, and she said, “I look at what they are promoting, and I look at them. If the health product seems to have made no visible difference to the person for the better, I am not interested.” Well, I guess she was asked.
I was a young man, so for me to judge the health benefits for a person more than twice my age, would not have been fair. But our resident sceptic didn’t seem to think so. She had a visual test to be passed, and in her mind, it was unmet from the outset.
The occasion stayed with me because it was a clear demonstration of a mental “Off Switch” being flipped before someone had even started talking.
Experience teaches the godly to reserve judgements. This is at least one who cuts himself off from a vital flow of yet-to-be-revealed facts.
When it comes to impartial judgement, human beings are lousy at it. Thus, we can praise God that memories fade with age; otherwise more than a little time would be spent in regret over past prejudicial pronouncements.
Jesus calls us to a divine standard of judgement: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24).
Righteous judgement always begins with God’s grace in mind. And to flip that “Off Switch” is to rob the occasion of its full impact for Jesus.
John Staiger
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