Suppose we could vote for the courts of our country to lose some power. Suppose we could decide that the courts cannot hold politicians in contempt for not obeying the judgment of the court? In other words, politicians could hold off obeying the decisions of judges, or simply choose the opposite, and do what they please, regardless. That’s an important consideration for our country, and it is now up to our Senate to decide whether or not to put that into law. How do you feel about judgment?
That’s an important consideration for Christ followers. For the people of Jesus, one of the issues we claim Jesus settled was judgment. The thing is that he didn’t dismiss judgment. He accepted the value of it as a way of life. If we don’t think of judgment as a decision but as a consequence, it changes the entire experience. Consequence is the natural outcome of an action or choice. Jesus lives within judgment as if it were a consequence. It’s not that God has decided to be angry with us. It’s that we have chosen something that will damage us, and God knows the full outcome of that damage, hates it, and wants to heal us from it. Christians claim that Jesus saves us from the damage by having the impact of that damage fall on himself, so he can bring us healing.
One of the chief things we desire, as human beings, is to avoid consequences. We want to get out of speeding tickets, have a judge see beyond the rules and be lenient, or just not get caught. Right now, our Senate will decide whether that will be the regular experience for politicians. They won’t face any penalties. Christ followers play at a higher level. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in our souls, we recognize the true implications of consequences, and so we go to God asking him to work in our souls so that we seek out our relationship with him honestly and steadfastly, to grow in truth, and to deal with reality.
It’s not easy, but it does make life better.
Blessings, Geoff