The subtext beneath every political or religious debate is the presumption of the knowledge of good and evil – self-assured, each opinion hoping to leverage the moral high ground to make its case. And it is this very presumption of knowledge that has been the catalyst of every conflict since the beginning of time. Makes you wonder why we would even be tempted to possess such knowledge in the first place . . . O yea, there was that moment in the garden when we were tempted to imagine ourselves as being our own god – a temptation that still has the power to seduce us even now into every form of calamity.
So exactly what is the point of possessing such knowledge? If history is any indication, it has been a weapon of oppression wielded by those seeking to hold sway over others, ever reminding them of their guilt and shame, constantly passing judgment in an effort to create the illusion that those arbitrating good and evil are somehow above such judgment. . . as if they were god-like in their presumptive ownership of such knowledge. But here’s the thing, on some level, we all feel entitled to pass such judgment on others. Which makes me ask — in a world full of pseudo-gods, morally manipulating every relationship — does true forgiveness and reconciliation even have a chance of rising above our self-important impulse to pass judgment?
I would make a hard distinction here between using good judgment as a measure of discernment and evaluating my own way forward, and passing judgment over others so as to comparatively separate myself as being above them by measuring them against my own presumptive knowledge of good and evil. The former is born of a desire to live in ontological harmony with who I’ve been created to be, and the latter arises out of my desire to shame others into conformity with my self-involved opinions. One reminds me that I am not God, and the other tempts me to presume myself to be god.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”
For me, this passage offers great insight into how best to understand the difference between having good judgment and passing judgment over others.
Paul here is speaking to Timothy about the way of the world . . . and not to the world about how it should behave. And the very thing he is warning Timothy about is how even the godless can presume the knowledge of good and evil, giving them the appearance of godliness . . . all the while denying the God whose power they have co-opted. So when Paul says “avoid such people,” I think the subtext here is also . . . “avoid being such a person”. So maybe instead of being quick to make our own bold confessions about what we think we know about good and evil, our confession should be more like Paul’s “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” ~ 1 Corinthians 2:2
So let us humbly confess . . .
