June 16, 2010, Romans 2

Key Verse:

“So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”

(Romans 2:3-4)

Central Truth:

Our judgment of others is an affront to the immense grace and mercy that God has poured out on us.

GIVE WHAT YOU'VE BEEN GIVEN

“I can’t believe she did that!”

“Oh, that makes me so mad! How could he be so inconsiderate?!?!”

“That sure was a stupid thing to do…now I’ve got to stay and fix their mess.”

Some days people make choices that we don’t agree with. Well, maybe I should say most days. And all too often, when they make those choices, we just can’t seem to understand why they behave the way they do. For example, have you ever gotten really angry at someone for a decision they made and how it affected your life? Now, has anyone ever been irate with you because you made a similar decision? “What are they so angry about?!?! Obviously, they just didn’t understand my heart!” you say.

Exactly.

There seems to be a double standard here. We tend to judge other people by their behaviors, but then judge ourselves by our intentions. We can’t understand why someone would be so angry with us because it was our desire to be helpful, while at the same time we choose to be angry at someone else because they chose to do something that, in our opinion, wasn’t right.

This can actually be broken down into one of the basic skills we learn in science class as children: the difference between “observation” and “inference.” For a refresher, “observation” is only what we can actually see; “inference” is making an assumption based on, you guessed it, what you’ve observed. When we judge someone we are making an assumption based solely on the observed behavior of that person. We’re assuming we know what’s going on (and you know what it means to “assume,” right?). There will always be other information that we’re lacking. We are so quick to say that we know what someone meant to do without knowing the whole story, yet we are offended when someone does the same to us.

The thing is we all do this at one point or another. We pass judgment on others without knowing their heart. We can be critical, picky, and even condemning at the drop of a hat. Paul was clear that we will experience God’s judgment for this lack of love and patience with others. He goes so far as to say that we are showing contempt for the grace that God gives us during these circumstances. Ugh, that hurts. My judgment against others is an affront to God’s patience and the immense amount of grace and mercy He has poured out on me.

I am so thankful that God doesn’t judge us the way we tend to judge each other. Paul says in verse 2 that God bases His judgment on truth (He knows the whole story) and that means He includes our status as a child of the King. Due to the audacious gift of his own life, we are given grace and mercy beyond our wildest dreams. Isn’t it about time we showed some to others?