There’s a legend about a rabbi who welcomed a weary traveler into his home for a night of rest. After learning that his guest was almost a hundred years old, the rabbi asked about his religious beliefs. The man replied, “I’m an atheist.”

Infuriated, the rabbi ordered the man out, saying, “I cannot keep an atheist in my house.” Without a word, the elderly man hobbled out into the darkness.

The rabbi was reading the Scriptures when he heard a voice, “Son, why did you throw that old man out?”

“Because he is an atheist, and I cannot endure him overnight!”

The voice replied, “I have endured him for almost a hundred years.” The rabbi rushed out, brought the old man back, and treated him with kindness. How do you treat unbelievers? If God patiently waits for them to come to faith, can you?

Tags: evangelism, judging, mercy

I had the opportunity, while in the military service, to ride on several European trains. Trains were divided into traveling compartments. The story is told of four passengers riding together in one compartment during the Cold War. On one side sat a Russian soldier and a Solidarity Union member. On the other side of the compartment sat an elderly lady and an attractive young woman in her 20′s.

As the train travelled through the Polish countryside, the four passengers exchanged glances with suspicion, none of them daring to utter a word. Suddenly, the train entered a dark tunnel. In the darkness two unmistakable sounds were heard – first a kiss, then a slap.

As the train emerged from the tunnel and the compartment was again bathed in light, the old woman thought to herself, “Why those scoundrels! One of those men kissed that young girl and got slapped for his rudeness. Good for her!”

Sitting next to her, the attractive young woman thought to herself, “Of all the nerve! One of those men tried to kiss me, kissed the old lady by mistake, and got slapped. Well, he sure got what he deserved!”

The Russian sat with a smirk on his face as he thought to himself, “I knew that Solidarity member could not be trusted. He tried to take advantage of that young woman and she slapped me by mistake!”

Meanwhile, the Solidarity worker just leaned back and smiled. “That’s having the best of both worlds,” he thought to himself. “All I had to do was kiss the back of my hand, and I got to slap that Russian soldier across the face!”

The lesson is clear: you can never read someone else’s mind. Open communication is the only way to know what another is thinking. So ask.

Tags: Cold War, humor, judging

A man was having difficulty communicating with his wife and concluded that she was becoming hard of hearing. So he decided to conduct a test without her knowing about it.

One evening he sat in a chair on the far side of the room. Her back was to him and she could not see him. Very quietly he whispered, “Can you hear me?” There was no response.

Moving a little closer, he asked again, “Can you hear me now?” Still no reply.

Quietly he edged closer and whispered the same words, but still no answer.

Finally he moved right in behind her chair and said, “Can you hear me now?” To his surprise and chagrin she responded with irritation in her voice, “For the fourth time, yes! What a warning to us about judging.

Tags: hearing, humor, judging

A pastor was visiting one of his parishioners, and as they were talking, the conversation began to lag. The lady of the house, wanting to pick up the conversation, pointed out her window to her neighbor’s back yard where the wash was hanging on the line. She said: “See that lady next door and the wash she hangs out, see how dirty it is; she never hangs out clean wash.”

The pastor felt somewhat uncomfortable and tried to change the subject and quickly drew the visit to a close. As he was departing from the house the lady of the house walked out on the front porch with him and again the wash next door was clearly visible to them. They both realized at the same time that this wash was sparkling white, just as white as any wash could ever be. The truth began to dawn on them that it was not the neighbor’s wash which was dirty, rather it was the window through which they viewed the wash.

This week we’re going to talk about judging. This neighbor lady passed a judgment on her neighbor through her own eyes, which were faulty, like the man in Jesus’s parable who tried to extract the splinter from his neighbor’s eye while he had a beam in his own eye. Have you ever judged someone and later found out your standard was faulty?

Tags: judging

“You’re blocking the way, sir,” said the usher to a man sprawled in the aisle of a movie theater. “Please get up.”

The man didn’t move or reply. The usher called the manager over, who said, “I must ask you to move.”

Still the prone man didn’t reply. So the manager called the police. “Get up or I’ll have to take you in,” the officer said. “Where did you come from, anyway?”

The man finally stirred and said, “The balcony.”

Have you ever felt condemnation toward another who was down and out? How can we judge someone when we haven’t walked in their shoes or understood what they have gone through that brought them to that place? Let’s be a little more understanding. Our job is not to judge, but to assist others on their spiritual journey. How are you helping?

Tags: humor, judging, mercy, resurrection

“You must hurry,” friends cried to the teacher as he rushed home from the fields. “The banquet at the home of Halil has already begun. You are late.”

“They are right,” the teacher thought. “If I take time to change clothes, I could miss the entire dinner.” Instead of returning to his home, he proceeded in his work clothes to the home of Halil, the rich man.

When he arrived, the servants at the door refused to allow him to enter because he was not dressed properly. Though he protested, the servants stood firm.

Finally, the teacher walked to the home of a friend who lived nearby. He borrowed a nice coat and quickly returned to the party. He was immediately welcomed and was seated at the banquet table.

When dinner was served, the teacher began to put the food on his coat. He smeared his jacket with vegetables and poured the appetizer in his pocket. All the time he said loudly, “Eat, dear dinner jacket. I hope you enjoy the meal.”

All the guests focused their attention on the teacher’s strange behavior. Finally, Halil asked, “Why are telling your jacket to enjoy the meal?”

“When I arrived in my work clothes,” the teacher explained, “I was refused entrance. It was only when I was accompanied by this fine coat that I was allowed to sit at the table. Naturally I assume it was the jacket, not me, that was invited to your banquet.”

Do we evaluate others by the clothes they wear? Are we right or wrong when we do so?

Tags: judging