Download In the World for August 5 here.
BEING JUDGES
Paul Manafort was then-candidate Trump’s campaign chairman in the 2016 election. He went on trial this week on charges of conspiracy, tax evasion, and bank fraud. Beneath the surface of those charges (to which Manafort has pleaded not guilty) lie the allegations by prosecutors that he worked as a paid advisor to the government of Ukraine which has ties to Russia. This may be relevant the Mueller investigation of alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Manafort has already been judged by many people in the court of public opinion, and the president’s lawyer has speculated that President Trump might pardon Manafort, if he is convicted.
BEING JUDGED
All of us are guilty at times of being judges, often without complete knowledge of the facts. In today’s text, the apostle Paul reminds us that we can be guilty of the same kinds of sins for which we condemn others. This places us under God’s judgment. In a way, our judgmental attitudes show contempt for God’s grace, a factor which should lead us to repent of our own sins rather than to judge the sins of others.
- Do you think we are quicker to judge others who differ from us (religiously, politically, racially, or culturally) than those who are like us? Explain.
- Is “hypocrite” too strong a word for our tendency to judge others for sins like our own? Explain. How does judging others show contempt for God’s grace, as Paul says?
- What has helped you resist the temptation to show favoritism in your relationships with others?
—Charles R. Boatman
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