Judgment and Love

“Oh, well. I’m going to hell anyway, right?”

I have a few family members and friends who are not practicing Catholics who say this to me from time to time. It’s always spoken in a teasing manner, with a wink and a shoulder shrug, usually to explain away some sort of minor misbehavior they feel guilty about.

It saddens me that Christians have somehow gained this reputation as a people who judge, who condemn. I think in part it stems from a misunderstanding on the part of unchurched people (and lots of churched ones, too) regarding what constitutes “judging.” It is absolutely not “judging” someone to disagree with a personal decision, whatever that decision may be, or to decline from participating in that decision. We all have functioning consciences; we are all supposed to discern the moral goodness of any action before we take it.

But it is judging someone if we allow their decisions to impact how we treat them.

Today’s Gospel is an invitation for us to consider how we engage with people who disagree with us — or maybe even actively dislike us. Much is said these days of the “culture wars.” I certainly don’t disagree that it can often feel like you’re fighting a war when you’re trying to live as the Church teaches. The forces against you often seem overwhelming and nefarious. And guess what? They are.

But we need to remember who the enemy really is. The enemy is not other children of God, even if they are children of God who are actively promoting ideas that are wrong. Perhaps these people are misguided and mistaken. Perhaps they are misled by the devil. Have we not all been misled by him at some point?

We must interact lovingly with people who think differently and live differently from us. The Christian life absolutely demands it.

©LPi