You Are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made; What Judgment Really Is

 Howdy. Welcome to our new series.

Some of this may be familiar. But it goes further than “God made us all special.” Now, we’ll apply what we’ve learned by loving others no matter what choices they make.

Psalm 139:14 (you are fearfully and wonderfully made) was a key as we discussed looks, handicaps, etc.. One of the key verses here might be Mat. 7:1-5.

Some say “don’t judge,” but the Bible doesn’t say that; remember, read in context so you don’t go to Troas for Paul’s cloak. Jesus says we’ll be judged the same way we judge. He is warning against hypocrisy, like a “Family Circus” panel where Dolly says, “Jeffy’s not closin’ his eyes when we pray.” Clearly, she had to \have her eyes open. Jesus says to first take the beam out of our eye so we can see to remove a speck from another. 

Or course, we don’t have to close our eyes to pray - we pray anytime, anywhere, about anything. Closed eyes just help us concentrate. But what about pushing? “No pushing” is a good rule. If you hear “Johnny pushed Joey” your first thought might be “Johnny is a bully.” But what if Johnny pushed Joey out of the way of a car backing up? He goes from being a bully to a hero.  Our job isn’t to point out what’s wrong. It’s to lovingly guide and accept people and act like Jesus would. We don’t always have the facts. (Imagine a teacher’s look hearing “Mommy/Daddy cuts people open.” Yet a surgeon’s little kid could say that.)

This is where talking and making friends comes in. We have to listen to others.

A lot of schools require masks, for instance. This is more about choice to some (like not closing eyes to pray), but very important to others. (Like not pushing.) However, whether or not a person thinks it’s important doesn’t matter for 2 reasons.

Some, like autistic kids, can’t wear masks. For others, wearing one can traumatize them if they were attacked and/or nearly suffocated. It can lead to panic attacks or other things that can’t be controlled. Post traumatic stress is very real for some, and having a face covering can lead to a traumatic memory as if they are re-living the trauma.

“Okay,” you say, “that’s like pushing someone to save them; a person can choose not to wear a mask if doing so would harm them. But that can’t be true of everyone, can it?”

Maybe not. But the point is, why doesn’t matter. (I didn’t even mention parents’ rules, which are out of a kid’s control), and again, our job isn’t to point out details. Our job is to accept others as Jesus did, no matter what. That leads to the second point.  

There is a lot of anger, fear, and mistrust in the world. Remember how the devil tries to tear down and destroy, but Jesus gives life?(John 10:10) By being kind to all, part of the solution, not the problem, we build others up. In a scary world, we need to be the light and salt of the earth. We need to ignore things like if someone has a mask on, because that is being like Jesus, not focusing on the outside but looking deeper, inside them.

After all, that kid sitting alone, that bully who might need to hear love is possible, that kid crying because of who knows what happened in their family, are all still the same inside. They need Jesus, for salvation if they’re not saved but always for His comfort, strength, grace, wisdom, etc. People need to see a difference in us. They need to see we care about them as people  - not just whether they have a mask. Because that’s where God wants us to touch others, so we can do His work in this world.