Let's Not Judge
I have to be honest. There are few phrases on this earth that I can stand less than, "Let's not judge." It's not so much the actual semantic meaning that bothers me. In fact, I can agree with the actual meaning of it. But it is the way that it is applied. If I am lovingly and anonymously saying, "I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, who has really made some bad choices in her life..." I don't really want to hear, "Well, you can't judge." You're right. But, judging her would be saying, "I have this friend who is just an evil person." This is merely an evaluation of her choices, many of which you would have to be crazy to call "good choices." In fact, saying someone has a judgmental heart (which is not an uncommon phrase amongst Mormons), is one of the most judgmental things you could say.
That being said, in the LDS faith, we hate talking about live people's choices as good or bad, for fear of being "judgmental." But something inside us has this need to really judge those in the scriptures. Yes, many scriptural people (both good and bad people), made some stinking bad choices. But, why do we oftentimes see their bad? For some reason, we see Samson's falling to Delilah, and think of him as a weakling. In Samson's defense, he saw his error, and gave his life to remedy it.
I think the one situation that bothers me the most is Thomas. For some reason, we find it appropriate to call this man Doubting Thomas. He even has his own slang term. But last time I checked, he was a faithful apostle of Christ. When they are killing people for following Christ, and yet you do it, I don't really see you as a doubter. Sure, he didn't really think that Christ had come back. But, it's not like that would be an easy thing to swallow.
I propose a different view of Thomas. Thomas had some troubles believing--as in, he had pretty average faith for a follower of Christ. However, Thomas displayed desire which very few in Christendom could match. Thomas wanted Christ to be back, but wasn't convinced it could be so. And when, he learned that it was so, he fell to his knees immediately. While Christ was teaching, it was Thomas' question that prompted Christ's famous response, "I am the way, the truth and the light." This response came, because Thomas wanted nothing more than to know, and told Christ that he didn't know what to do. He didn't understand Christ's assurance that the disciples knew what to do. Maybe, it'd be better to call him a perfectionist and a self-doubter than a doubter.
But, even a more flattering form of Thomas comes. Thomas' had the diligence and valiance of a martyr. When word comes to Christ that Lazarus had died, Christ tells his disciples that He will go to Bethany. The disciples all insist that this is a bad plan, as the last time Christ was there, the people tried to stone him. Christ insists that He must go. The disciples all kind of stand there, not sure what to do, until Thomas says, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." Does the man who wants to follow Christ to death strike you as a "doubter?" Does the man who will willingly walk into martyrdom, just so that he can stay with the Lord strike you as an unbeliever, or a faithless individual?
So, in the scriptures, they always refer to him as "Thomas, called Didymus" (meaning he was probably a twin). In the world today, they always refer to him as "Doubting Thomas." From now on, I want to institute a practice of calling him "Thomas, the Willing Martyr."
For the record: Thomas, according to tradition, actually was eventually martyred while preaching Christianity to Iraq, Pakistan and India. Story is, he was praying on a hill, and was run through with a spear by people not that into Christianity.
That being said, in the LDS faith, we hate talking about live people's choices as good or bad, for fear of being "judgmental." But something inside us has this need to really judge those in the scriptures. Yes, many scriptural people (both good and bad people), made some stinking bad choices. But, why do we oftentimes see their bad? For some reason, we see Samson's falling to Delilah, and think of him as a weakling. In Samson's defense, he saw his error, and gave his life to remedy it.
I think the one situation that bothers me the most is Thomas. For some reason, we find it appropriate to call this man Doubting Thomas. He even has his own slang term. But last time I checked, he was a faithful apostle of Christ. When they are killing people for following Christ, and yet you do it, I don't really see you as a doubter. Sure, he didn't really think that Christ had come back. But, it's not like that would be an easy thing to swallow.
I propose a different view of Thomas. Thomas had some troubles believing--as in, he had pretty average faith for a follower of Christ. However, Thomas displayed desire which very few in Christendom could match. Thomas wanted Christ to be back, but wasn't convinced it could be so. And when, he learned that it was so, he fell to his knees immediately. While Christ was teaching, it was Thomas' question that prompted Christ's famous response, "I am the way, the truth and the light." This response came, because Thomas wanted nothing more than to know, and told Christ that he didn't know what to do. He didn't understand Christ's assurance that the disciples knew what to do. Maybe, it'd be better to call him a perfectionist and a self-doubter than a doubter.
But, even a more flattering form of Thomas comes. Thomas' had the diligence and valiance of a martyr. When word comes to Christ that Lazarus had died, Christ tells his disciples that He will go to Bethany. The disciples all insist that this is a bad plan, as the last time Christ was there, the people tried to stone him. Christ insists that He must go. The disciples all kind of stand there, not sure what to do, until Thomas says, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." Does the man who wants to follow Christ to death strike you as a "doubter?" Does the man who will willingly walk into martyrdom, just so that he can stay with the Lord strike you as an unbeliever, or a faithless individual?
So, in the scriptures, they always refer to him as "Thomas, called Didymus" (meaning he was probably a twin). In the world today, they always refer to him as "Doubting Thomas." From now on, I want to institute a practice of calling him "Thomas, the Willing Martyr."
For the record: Thomas, according to tradition, actually was eventually martyred while preaching Christianity to Iraq, Pakistan and India. Story is, he was praying on a hill, and was run through with a spear by people not that into Christianity.
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