Welcome to Hipster Theology

Disclaimer: I don't believe all "hipsters" believe in the theology I'm about to discuss, but we'll get there.

Don't judge me. You can't say anything till you've walked in my shoes. My choices are none of your business. These are the things we say to deter people from digging into our issues. We even like to put it into our theology. "Christians shouldn't judge" "Only God can judge me." Holy mole! We just found something that everyone from Miley Cyrus to Steve Jobs to Martin Luther can agree on!

Hold it. What is judgment? Here are some synonyms: Perception, sense, discernment. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I think somebody has the wrong definition of judgment and it sure isn't Webster. Where did this other definition come from? Culture. Our culture turned "judgment" into something those rich people on their golf carts and Ferrari's do to the lesser peasants. See that pregnant high school student? You can't judge her. She's been in places you can't think of. She's made a bad decision but hey, don't we all? See that guy doing drugs on the corner? He's homeless and going through more pain then you can imagine. See the thug stealing some beer from the gas station? Don't judge him. He's addicted and can't help it... That guy who just got murdered? Don't judge the perp... He's a good guy, he just made some bad decisions. The first couple examples seemed okay. They sounded familiar even. Where have you heard that? Probably on your run-of-the-mill prime-time drama. Let me rephrase those examples to a Christian worldview. See that sinner-saved-by-grace? She sinned against God and threw His commandments in the dirt. She was made in His image for perfection and she took that image and used it for momentary pleasure. Don't talk to her about it though...it's none of your business.

I read in a Book once (that I've quoted on here a few times) that as iron sharpens iron, so one man should sharpen another. When was the last time you sharpened iron? I haven't recently, but I can imagine. Iron is hard. Iron on iron is a grating sound and certainly not pleasant. Next question. Have you ever tried to sharpen a pillow with another pillow? It probably sounded great. It felt good. Problem. A pillow is not a sword, nor do they serve the same purpose. In the same way, there is a time to be soft on people and simply love them, but conversely there is a time for iron to sharpen iron. Notice also, a sword sharpens a pillow just as badly as another pillow. Sharpening requires two people who are ready for it. You need to be tough and you need to want it. This is the basis of Christian community. To confront someone's sin is a commandment. Is that not like seeing a friend drowning and saying: "That's none of my business"?

Now yes, all of us our drowning. So then we should all drown by ourselves waiting to taste eternal hell. I don't believe that for a second. Hold on Challenge your friend to keep swimming and pray he can do the same. Then together pray that God can strengthen you. Live the life that is open. Call in the brotherhood to confront you. Discuss your sins. Even...judge...you. What if instead of saying "only God can judge me", we said: Judge me! Point out my wrongs and tell me how I can improve! That is our Community that we're called to, not the sit-in-Starbucks-with-an-iPhone-and-judge-those-who-judge-others community we live in.