When it was revealed that Donald Trump, in the first year of his second term, had increased his personal fortune by 2 billion dollars I posted my views on Facebook. Within minutes, I was firmly rebuked for criticising him. “The Lord told us not to judge people!” someone said. “Shame on you!” chimed in an irate supporter, “Pastors like you are ruining the church!”
The Lord’s command that we refrain from judging people is a sacred calling; an essential principle for every pastorally active Christian. We should refuse to judge when the answers seem easy to us, but impossible to those we try to support.
I have judged others in the past only to discover that I was wrong because I didn’t know the whole story or because I was biased. The memories make me wince. My failures tell me one simple truth, I am not good enough to judge anyone.
Reflecting theologically on war in the Middle East
It is rare that theology features in the decision making of great nations, but there are reports of US military …