We measure all kinds of things. We measure time, distance, mass, density, height, weight, light output, volume, temperature, speed, wealth, education, circumference, just to name a few. But how do we measure life? What gauge do we use to determine our core values and morals?
Some people will contend that Jesus actually said that we should not judge people at all (being interpreted means that we should never say that something is right or wrong in someone else’s life). If that is true then I guess we can throw out all out standards of Judeo-Christian ethics and shut down our entire justice system. We can also forget about any sense of truth or fairness for anyone and just accept the rule of the strongest to all things. This throws out the window any concept of equal rights for all people based on their inherent God-given rights and reduces us to the barbarism that at times plagues the human race.
I don’t hold to that interpretation at all. Jesus was not proposing some type of moral relativism where everyone determines their own truth. What Jesus warns us about is that our standard of measuring others (the critique of how and why we live) must be one which we are willing to be measured with. The truth is we all evaluate people. Some means of evaluation is necessary. As we judge and establish benchmarks for living we must not condemn people (that’s God’s responsibility). We are to be determinative according the measures of grace, mercy, and love which God has extended to us. The question really is, can I treat other people like God is treating me? When I adopt this measure then certainly I will be willing to be measured by the same standard.
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