Lessons from life

I got a call last week from someone, I haven’t seen or talked to in years. She was ‘concerned’ about my political stance. Not sure how she knows what it is, as she never actually asked me about it. She just knew. The worst part was a subtle disapproval of me as a Christian. My politics are different, therefore I wasn’t understanding Jesus, and I am not really a Christian.

This was upsetting to say the least. I know many people with whom I have different politics, but I have never done anyone the disservice of presuming they are not a member of His kingdom.

Then I started to think of my Grandmother. She befriended the people no one else valued. She stayed connected to the woman whose extramarital affair broke up more than her own family. She stayed friends with the person who let alcohol drag her from the centre of polite society. She loved the unlovable. She may not have approved of their life choices, but she loved them anyhow.

Why? That wasn’t her job. Just as it isn’t my job to rank others on the ‘Christian’ scale. It is not my job to condemn others over disagreements in policy. Or to judge people who make different life choices.

Let us not let our fervor for God or what we think as the ‘right’ way tempt us. We have no right to assume the position of judge. When we do so, we are claiming the position of God – something that even Jesus was unwilling to do.

James 4: 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?