For at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. (Rom. 2:1)
Expanded Passage: Romans 2:1-2
My wife and I enjoy watching police procedural movies on Netflix, especially those set in the United Kingdom. One of the strategies often employed by the bad guys is misdirection. Misdirection sends detectives in one direction, confusing them, while the perpetrator storms away in a different or opposite direction. Misdirection temporarily baffles the squad room who are puzzling over solving the crime. The intent of misdirection is to distract and sidetrack the police from apprehending the criminal. When I was a kid, I used misdirection (with mixed results) after I had misbehaved in Mrs. Quinn’s Sunday school class. On the way home from church, I’d chat up my dad about sports, the weather, or something pertaining to his work—anything to divert his attention from disciplining me from my poor behavior in Sunday school. The strategy was to divert his mind off the task of disciplining me for my misbehavior.
Pointing to the misdeeds of others as a strategy to misdirect God’s judgment of me fails. Why? Because it takes one to know one. The reason I’m quickly able to discern and censure flaws in others is because I am so intimately acquainted with the same flaws in myself, even though I may be reluctant to own up to them.
Attempting to misdirect God’s judgment by directing his attention to the deficits of others fails because he sees the same flaws in me.
Remember that the shortcomings we so quickly see in others, God sees in us.
Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas with his wife, Sharon.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
