The other day at Catalyst, pastor Andy Stanley told a story about the day he realized he was judgmental. As a pastor’s kid he grew up knowing all the right answers. As a pastor himself, he knew the Bible inside and out. He thought over the years he had learned not to judge other people in unkind ways, but his counselor thought otherwise. Finally, after lots of back and forth, his counselor asked him a question, “How would you have responded when Peter denied Christ three times?” Before Andy could catch himself and say the right answer he blurted, “He’s out.” The counselor smiled and said, “And how did Christ respond?” Busted, with a grimace, Andy answered, “He pretty much had Peter lead the whole thing after that.”
Now that’s not an exact quote because I was busy judging someone or something at the time and didn’t take notes. But in my own life I don’t need dramatic moments to realize I struggle with unfairly judging people. I see evidence of my own nonsense all the time and recently caught myself judging them in a completely crazy location:
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