Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  
Ephesians 4:31 NIV

This picture will look familiar to many of you. I used it in my blog exactly one year ago today as I wrote about how COVID fatigue was manifesting itself in me by being judgmental towards others who held different perspectives than I did on vaccines, stay-at-home orders, CERB etc. I shared that in my most humble moments with the Lord, I had to admit that these were only the tip of the iceberg of the judgements I make of people, both consciously and unconsciously, on a regular basis. I recognized that these judgements reveal more about myself and my heart than about others and they encouraged me to look inwards. 

I received feedback from a number of you last year that the post hit a chord with you and that you recognized yourself in it.   

In the past two weeks, since the Freedom Convoy rolled into Ottawa, judgement has been running rampant in our city, in conversations within families, amongst friends and in workplaces. Judgement of protesters, judgement of those that support the protesters, judgement of those that don’t, judgement of the police, judgement of the Prime Minister, judgement of the Opposition just to name a few.    

After much prayer, for the first time, we have chosen to repost a blog. Please know it is not about the protest, but it is about our heart as workplace leaders and how judgement can negatively impact the Christ-like character we bring to our workplace.

At the end of this blog, we have posted some prayer points from Love Ottawa. We pray that these will shift us from the judgments we may be making around what is occurring in our city, to a posture of prayer. 

Who am I to judge when I walk imperfectly? 

As leaders, we make judgements about people that we work with all of the time. Here are just a few ways that we judge others:

• Morality Judgements: We judge the honesty, trustworthiness, sincerity, and integrity of people.
• Competence Judgements: We judge the capability, intelligence, skillfulness and confidence of others.
• Relational Judgements: We judge how friendly, likeable and kind other people are. 

Very often, we are judging whether or not someone is “just like us” or like we wish they would be, forgetting that God has created us uniquely and differently. Just because others think or behave or perform differently than we do does not make them wrong – it just makes them different. As the body of Christ, we are all different.

Our choice to judge and criticize others can cause suffering to both ourselves and others. Our critical spirit can pollute our heart, it can rob us of joy and peace, it can dimmish our belief that God is the ultimate judge and authority, and it can lead to a sense of superiority and pride. God wants us to have humble hearts, not to think of ourselves as better than others or to act superior to others. 

“Here is one way to know I’ve forgotten the gospel of grace; when your sin bothers me more than my own”
Tullian Tchividjian 

Scripture warns judgmental people that they will be judged by the same measure with which they judge others. While we are taught to confront sinful behaviour in a loving way, we are also taught to have love and compassion for those who are not just like us. 

Last year at this time I apologized to two of the people that I was “judging”. I knew in my heart that my judgement of them was not of God. I recognized that those judgements were saying more about myself than those I was judging.  

Some reflection questions for this week:

• How are you coping with COVID fatigue? Is it manifesting itself in ways that you need to repent about and turn from?
• How are those you lead and work with coping with COVID fatigue? Are you judging them or are you offering support to them?
• Are you judging others you work with in ways that are holding you back from a deeper relationship with them?
• Are there judgments of others you need to let go of because they are robbing you of internal peace and joy?
• Is there anyone you need to apologize to?  

Please join others around the City in praying for an end to our current situation. Here are some of the prayer points from Love Ottawa:

Please pray:

• For a mediator who can help bring a peaceful end to the protest. 
• For peace and safety over local residents, protesters, and police.
• For patience, resilience, and relief for local people enduring the brunt of the event.
• That all people would act according to what is right in God’s sight.
• For the thwarting of any malicious plans by anyone who joined the demonstration with ulterior motives.
• For an ongoing peace and resilient communication process within the different groups involved.
• For wisdom and insight within all groups involved. 
• For the hearts of all Canadians to soften towards one another so we can hear each other and resolve our conflicts peacefully. 

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