Jambalaya Judgement

I will never forget when I was invited to a dinner where jambalaya was being served. I did my best to try and hide the fact that I wasn’t going to eat it. Well … I got caught. The host asked me if I liked the jambalaya. I answered honestly and said, “I don’t really like jambalaya.” He asked why I didn’t like it. I told him that I have never actually tried it. I just decided I didn’t like it.

Judgement. How often do we judge something based on little or no information?  Like Jambalaya! I have often made a judgement on something  before I know much about it. I have done it with food, with games and even with people.

It is so easy to judge. We love to judge! And yet we often make our judgement based on very little information. For instance I envied one of my girlfriends. Her life was perfect. All one had to do was look at the Christmas card she sent every year, perfect house, perfect job, perfect family. Only it wasn’t perfect. She and her family were a mess.

Why is it so easy to judge others? When I  meet a Republican I  judge them to be a certain way. If I meet a Democrat I judge them to be a certain way. If you are like me, we base our judgement on very little information.

There is a great quote from scripture that helps me each time I find myself in the judgement mode. It is from James 2:13. It says, “mercy triumphs over judgement.” There is so much wisdom in this. When I engage with people who are different than me or who think differently from me than I can use mercy instead of judgement. I don’t know everything about each person I judge, but I can show mercy to each person I encounter.

Sandy Rothschiller serves as Pastor of Spiritual Care at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN