Prohibition

"You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat it, you will surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17).

Eden must have been a wonderful place. It was there that we lived in the love, provision, and unity of God. Things were as the Creator had intended, and in this present world we find ourselves in, I can find very few places and circumstances that offer me a glimpse of what it might have been like to walk the Garden as Adam and Eve did.

Genesis 2 gives us a very brief view of what this place must have been like, a place where man was truly free. In that place, there was only one prohibition: do not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. From the very beginning, the temptation to "be like God, knowing good and evil" was too seductive to refuse. The moment Adam and Eve acquired what they desired, judgment entered our world. All that they had enjoyed was lost with the arrival of this new and hideous knowledge.

The first prohibition in scripture is against seeking or possessing the knowledge of what is good or evil. It is prohibition to judge. Adam and Eve were created to live in the love and security of God -- and nothing else. They were not to judge themselves, each other, or God. Even the idea of possessing this knowledge caused Eve to begin to question God's motives, and from the moment they began to judge, shame entered the world.

This command against judging is a central prohibition in scripture. Jesus spoke against judgment very directly in the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 7. Although Lord, Jesus said of himself that he did not come to judge the world (John 12:47). He must have come with some other motive! Even the Apostle Paul, who so many Christians love to quote in their judgment of others, asked, "What business is it of mine to judge those outside of the church?" (1 Corinthians 5:12). He went so far as to say that he didn't think it was appropriate to even judge himself (1 Corinthians 4:3).

With all the explicit warnings against judgment found in scripture, why do so many professed followers of Christ continually justify the practice of it? Why do we continue to make excuses to justify our judgment of the world around us? Despite what the scriptures clearly state, why do we continue to offer exclusion, condemnation, and play-by-play analysis of all those living within the scope of our judgment?

The answer, I believe, is too painful for most of us to acknowledge.

We want to be like God.

I know when I judge, there is something about it that makes me feel good at that moment. It feels satisfying to stand over others in judgment, and I enjoy that position of self-imposed superiority. My focus on the sin of others gives me momentary reprieve from the awareness of the stench of my own sin and brings me a sense of gratification that I am not "as bad as that man". In my mind, I deliver the verdict that separates them from me, and I feel so justified in the process. And, of course, God is always on my side.

Forgive me, Lord...

Just as this "knowledge" brought death to Adam and Eve, when the church tries to be like God, death comes knocking. How many people do I know who are like walking dead, having been destroyed by the judgment of those claiming to speak for God? Why do so many people equate Christianity with judgment? Why are we known for something that should run opposite to who we are and how we live in this world? We turn the order of the entire world upside down when the creation tries to be the Creator, when the created judge the created. No life comes from it.

Jesus couldn't have said it more plainly...we will be held to the same standards that we judge others. God forbid!

As the Holy Spirit exposes the true motives of our judgment of others, we have the opportunity to repent and experience God's forgiveness, grace, and mercy in a way that we have never known. To be free of judgment and live in God's mercy and love is the closest we will get to Eden in these bodies!

The opposite of judgment is love. If the central prohibition in scripture is judgment, the central commission is love (Matthew 22:38-39). When we insist on our right to judge others, it brings us (and others) to a place that couldn't be further from God's intention. It couldn't be more destructive.

And yet we justify it.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:37-38).