Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.   John 7:24 HCSB

There has been debate over the years about profiling. Profiling is defined as the recording and analysis of a person’s psychological and behavioral characteristics in order to assess or predict their capabilities in a certain sphere or to assist in identifying a certain subgroup of people. Simply put, judging people by their outward appearances. We are all taught that if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck it is a duck.

We all have a tendency to judge a book by the cover. Many years ago, a beautiful young woman came to work in our office. She had won several pageants and for the first few weeks was very quiet. My first thought was that she was a snob. But then I thought maybe she was just shy. After a couple weeks we were assigned to spend the day together on a transport and I asked her why she didn’t speak very much in the office. She explained that she was just observing and feeling everyone out. I am happy to say she has not stopped speaking with me since then and we have become great friends. But that is just one example of how judging from appearances can cause us to misread someone or a particular situation.

In our Scripture passage, Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath and some people were complaining saying He should not have done this on the Sabbath. Jesus responded to them by saying they circumcise men on the Sabbath so the law of Moses shall not be broken and questioned their issue with Him healing a man on the Sabbath so the man could be made well. He follows this by saying we should not judge by outward appearances but by righteous judgment.

Are you judging someone or some situation by outward appearance alone? We must take the time to investigate and discover the truth. If I had judged my co-worker by outward appearances, I would have missed out on a great friendship that is still going strong today. I would never have seen the kind, giving, trustworthy, loving person on the inside just the outward beauty. I would have judged her quiet observation as snobbish behavior.

It is a grave mistake to have these pre-conceived notions about who people are based on outward appearances. I find that many people have pre-conceived notions about Christianity as well. Many people never experience the peace and joy that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ because they think it’s too hard.   Or maybe they think it’s no fun. Or they think they will miss out on so many things in life. I know because I am one of these people. I used to think that accepting Christ meant giving up fun in my life. Boy was I wrong. I have never experienced so much joy in my life as when I dedicated my life to Christ. Not to mention the peace I have in my life regardless of my circumstances.

I mistook fun for joy. I found that fun times would let me down. They were only fun for a short while, but the joy I found in Christ remained constant regardless of my circumstances. I hear so many people give so many excuses for why they aren’t serving Christ or why they don’t attend church. My favorite is that the church is filled with hypocrites. Well first it is hypocritical of you to say that. By saying that it makes you a hypocrite. Our former pastor used to respond to this by saying, “Well come on anyway, there is always room for one more.” Our current pastor responds by saying, “I’d rather sit in church with a few hypocrites than spend eternity in hell with all of them.”

We don’t ever know the truth about someone until we get to know them. We are told to avoid evil in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 and evil people in 2 Timothy 3:5. How do we do this if we don’t judge people? Well, first we pray for wisdom and discernment in regard to relationships with others. We get to know them and make a right or righteous judgment based on truth not supposition alone.

If you have pre-conceived notions about the negative impact things like prayer, Bible study and church attendance would have on your life I urge you to let go of them. Pray, study your Bible and find a good Bible teaching church and see for yourself if they help. Take time to find out. It will do you good.

Have a great day!