Here Come the Judge!
Dan Kunz
Judges in the United States have been in the spotlight for the last couple of years because of their rulings on a variety of issues. Whether at the local level, the state Supreme Court, federal courts, or the United States’ Supreme Court, judges are a very important part of the republic in which we live. An important election is taking place next week in Wisconsin to choose a new member of the state Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court made a very important ruling on Roe vs. Wade just a couple years ago. A federal district judge recently made the headlines for calling a pause on the deportations of two planeloads of violent illegal aliens who have ties to foreign gangs which have been designated as terrorist organizations.
Judges are not just part of our society but have been a part of human existence from the beginning. Literally, a judge is a public official who is appointed to hear cases in a court of law. In reality, we are all judges. As a verb, judge means to form an opinion or conclusion about something. We do that many, many times every day. Sometimes our judgements are relatively small and insignificant. We decide what best to wear if the weather appears threatening. Sometimes our judgements are more important. We decide which vehicle will do the best job of keeping our family safe and sound. As Christians, we decide whether our actions will be God-pleasing or not. Those judgements aren’t just based on someone else’s weather report or a product review we saw online, they’re based on God’s Law, written in our hearts and given to Moses on Mount Sinai.
Judges who are part of our court system in this country, also have a touchstone or a guiding light upon which they are to make their decisions – the Constitution of the United States. Unfortunately, just as with most things in our world, we don’t always like what the “rules” say. We want to twist things to our way of thinking. Words which are often used today are “activist and Constitutionalist”. The latter generally tries to make decisions based on a strict interpretation of the Constitution. The former tends to make decisions based on how they think the law applies to life in American in 2025. In one case the law is fairly inflexible. In the other the law is much more malleable and flexible. That’s not the case with the Ten Commandments and God is definitely not an “activist” when it comes to constantly changing the interpretation thereof.
Although people might like to change what God says about their behavior, the fact remains that he will judge them based on his rules, not theirs. What is acceptable to society, or an individual, is not necessarily acceptable to God. For example, taking God’s name in vain or using crude language seems to be more and more acceptable today. God doesn’t make amendments to his Law or leave it to our interpretation. As the joke goes, “They’re the Ten Commandments, not the Ten Suggestions”. Fortunately, when it comes to God’s judgement of us, he first puts on his “Jesus glasses”! Unlike rose-colored glasses, which only give everything a rosy tint or hue, “Jesus glasses” makes us look like Jesus when God looks at us. On our best day, we’re a damnable sinner. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, his perfection becomes ours, all day every day. We don’t need to be afraid of The Judge, he’s also our Savior! Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the undeserved gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A friendly reminder: The Christian Leadership Experience will be held on June 13-14 at the LaCrosse Center. The “Early Bird” discount is scheduled to end on March 31, so please go to our website, www.ChristLead.com and register soon, if you haven’t already done so. We look forward to seeing you and enjoying a faith-impacting conference with you!