YeKengalé

I dont know why Christians don’t like the word and associate it with terror, fear and every ominous and disastrous outcome. Perhaps that is why we have in our time such an infantile expression of the faith. Judgment is in fact the mark of maturity. David said of God’s judgments not only that they are true and right but that they are more to be desired than fine gold. The church or society that runs away from judgment (quite inescapable) opts to remain imbecilic.

There is nothing quite so dangerous as someone who thinks they know but haven’t a clue. The saying I learned as a child: He who knows not that he knows not. That’s when the wise remain silent. Time for judgment. Instruction is wasted on a fool.

I remember a rural community in Jamaica which practiced a particularly dreadful expression of this wisdom. The way they dealt with he who knows not, would be to slowly and painstakingly gain their confidence, nurture their friendship in order to learn their secrets; then in their most vulnerable moment, scandalize them by unceremoniously broadcasting them from the housetops. The fact is that only that shameful exposure promoted self confrontation and self containment – something the fool is unable to do. People who hide their truth from themselves believe they have outsmarted God, but only lack sound judgment.

And that’s what judgment allows for us to do. To face ourselves. To gain accurate perspective from the mirror, without which self adjustment is impossible and even undesired. The blind do not know or care if they are ugly. Effective judgment requires exposure to undesirable truths. Nathan tricked David into pronouncing his own judgment. Often that’s the only way to humble the arrogant and self deceived, as the folk in that rural hamlet seemed to recognize.

There is a time for silence. For observation, For gathering of evidence. For judgment. So many think that the moment of pronouncement is the judgment. Far from it. The sentence is evidence that judgement is already made and complete. This is why it is a foolish thing to pronounce before judgment is sound and sure. Such speech is wasted. A fool cannot be corrected by mere words

There is the time to listen and watch. Those who desire judgment will discern the time..