“John Doe vs Jane Doe: To Judge or Not to Judge, that is the Question”

Ramesh C. Reddy
Publisher

  John Doe: “What do you think about Trump?”

Jane Doe:”I don’t like his character! I think Trump is obnoxious and arrogant. That I said, I love many of his policies. His policies are against abortion, against how homosexuals conduct themselves in the military. He is good for Christians and Americans. When I say American, I mean American citizens. I love the justices he put on the Supreme Court who ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who would not create a wedding cake for a gay marriage because it went against his religious beliefs.

John Doe: I would not have done what the baker did. I would have sold him bread [Wedding cake]. We are to love and not judge. When Mary Magdalene was brought before Jesus, what did Jesus say? He who has no sin, cast the first stone. Only Jesus has the right to judge. Who am I? I am just a puny human. I won’t judge. When Jesus fed the 5000, did he ask where people were from before giving them bread? No!

Jane Doe: They were all probably Israelites.

John Doe: No, they could have been from other places too!

Jane Doe: If an American came to a Hindu baker and asked him to make him bread for a beef sandwich, knowing the cow is sacred to the Hindu, would it be okay for the Hindu baker to refuse to make a bread for this American?

John Doe: Yes, it would be!

Jane Doe: So, what is the difference between the Hindu baker and Christian baker? Both are refusing to serve a particular customer because of their religious beliefs!

John Doe: I agree with you because of the baker’s religious beliefs, he has a right to say no to the gay couple to make their cake. I would have sold the bread [wedding cake]. It is not my place to judge other humans. I have my own family to take care of and don’t want to impose.

Jane Doe: We all make judgments and judge people. Even a prosecution and defense judge people whether they are guilty or not. Then, the judge judges too.

John Doe: Judges when they judge, they pass a sentence or penalty. The baker is not passing a sentence or penalty. He is just refusing to sell the bread [wedding cake] to gay couple who want to be married.

Jane Doe: Actually, the baker is passing a sentence when he refuses to make the cake for the gay marriage, because he believes the Bible is against gay marriage.

John Doe: Where is the love there?

Jane Doe: When the baker agreed to refer them to another bakery, he is showing love. When the baker refused to make the cake for them because he loves them so much and wants them to realize what they are doing is wrong so they can be right before the Lord Jesus, he is showing them love. I agree with you, when you decide to make the cake for the gay marriage, you are showing love too. Both are showing love. Both can be right. But, your response made it sound like the baker is in the wrong. He is not in the wrong.

John Doe: I still don’t think it is our place to judge.

Jane Doe: Even Jesus judged. When the woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus, Jesus told them, ‘He who has no sin cast the first stone.’ After everyone left, Jesus said to the woman, ‘Has anyone condemned you; neither do I. Go and sin no more.’ Jesus never made the woman feel condemned but he also never supported her actions. He wanted her to change her life around. He judged her by letting her know it was a sin. Or take for example, the Samaritan woman at the well. Why would she come during the hot noon day? It was because she knew she was ostracized by the community for the lifestyle she lived. She wanted to be alone near the well. Jesus comes to her and asks her for water. The woman is shocked because Jews don’t even associate with Samaritans. Not only that but she was a scarlet lettered woman who was shocked that Jesus would interact with her. Jesus tells her to go get her husband. The woman knew she was not married to the man she was living with so she changes the subject and asks about worship. Jesus meets her where she was at. Then, addresses that she has had 5 men in her life and spends time with her. The woman excitingly goes back to the village and tells everyone about Jesus. Jesus spends time with the people of the Samaritan village. The woman did not feel condemned by Jesus but knew she sinned because Jesus pointed it out to her.

John Doe: Who judged her?

Jane Doe: It was Jesus!

John Doe: Exactly, it was Jesus! We are just humans and have no right to judge.

Jane Doe: You really believe that! I don’t and let me tell you why? Right now Jesus is not physically walking the earth but promised us the Holy Spirit to come during Pentecost. You and I have the Holy Spirit living in us if we are Christians. It is the Trinity: God, the Father, God, the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. So, when we have the Holy Spirit living in us, it is like Jesus is living in us. So, when someone is doing wrong, what if the Holy Spirit is convicting the person to speak out. The human is speaking as a vessel but the Holy Spirit is the one that convicted the person to speak. We cannot say because Jesus is not walking the earth physically now, we as humans cannot judge someone and reveal their wrong. We should and not feel bad about it. If your child does wrong, don’t you tell the child, they are wrong and discipline?

John Doe: Yes!

Jane Doe: Then, you are judging as a human. Never think judging is wrong. Peter became the first Pope. What was the role of the Pope? To bring God’s Word to the people so they know right from wrong. When the Pope says something is wrong to humans, he is passing a judgment. But the judgment is not his own because he is basing it on the Bible. The Bible says, if a man comes to the church and it is found out that he is sleeping around, he needs to be confronted. If he does not repent, he needs to be kicked out of the church for his own good. Is this not judging by humans? It is! But the judgment is based on God’s Word. So, again, never think ‘Who am I to judge?’ When the Holy Spirit lives in us, Jesus lives in us. If the Holy Spirit convicts us and reveals someone’s sin to us and wants us to speak out, we need to as prophets did. You know John the Baptist was a prophet. He accused Herodias of adultery and was jailed. He passed a judgment and lost his life. But his judgment was accurate. Let me ask you this: If you have a best friend who is married and find out, he is having an affair with another woman, would you confront the best friend and tell him that it is wrong?

John Doe: Of course, I will.

Jane Doe: You are judging then.

John Doe: What would you do, if you tell the person they are wrong and they tell you, they will keep doing it?

Jane Doe: I will go and tell his wife because not only is he affecting his life but his wife’s life too.

John Doe: Good!

Jane Doe: Let’s get back to the baker then. He does not want to create a cake for them because of his religious beliefs knowing what they are doing is wrong. He is answerable to Jesus. It was very wrong of the gay couple to force him to make a cake for them and when he refused, filing a complaint on him. He wanted to sell them a premade cake but did not want to create a new cake for a gay marriage. They were upset he turned them down. That is so wrong! We cannot say the baker was not loving when he did not make a cake for them. On the contrary, he was loving because he wanted them to be right with God by sharing what they were doing was wrong. We do not have prophets like we had in Bible times but the Holy Spirit is given to us to speak out. It is okay to speak out. What is the role of an Ambassador?

John Doe: An ambassador represents the interests of their government to another country.

Jane Doe: So, it does not matter what the Ambassador personally thought of the country he is sent too, because his responsibility is to represent the interests of his government regardless of how he/she personally feels

John Doe: Yes, that’s correct!

Jane Doe: You know the Bible says, ‘We are Ambassadors for Christ’. This means we represent the interests of Jesus Christ to those He sent us too. How do we know the interests of Jesus Christ? It is in the Bible. So, as Ambassadors of Christ, we use the Bible to represent Christ to those we come across. So, when the baker decided not to make a cake specifically for a gay marriage, he was representing the interests of Jesus Christ, as an Ambassador for Christ, because the Bible says, marriage should be between a man and a woman.

John Doe: Yes, but the Ambassador has limitations and cannot do whatever he likes. He can only do what the government allows him to do.

Jane Doe: I agree with you. Even as Ambassadors for Christ, we cannot do whatever we want to do. We can only do what the Bible wants us to do representing Christ. This means we cannot forgive people’s sins so they can be right with God. We cannot send people to Heaven or Hell. Only Christ can do that. What we can do is let people know they are going against the Bible if they are. We don’t need to feel like ‘Who am I, I am just a human’. We are humans with the Holy Spirit.

John Doe: What do you think about the death penalty?

Stay tuned for the next conversation dialogue between John Doe and Jane Doe as it becomes available!

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