What's so bad about judgment?

Judgment. In today's society, it's a small word with big and often ugly connotations. People are afraid of being judgmental (which, in most cases, is a good thing to be concerned about). But if we, as a society, become too afraid of judgment, we may be in danger of throwing out the good with the bad.

By its very nature, the idea of “good judgment” requires a belief in absolute truth—that some things are inherently good and others are bad. Good judgment helps us make choices—it is, in essence, the wisdom we need to navigate life’s decisions.

However, it seems that in society, the merits of judgment—and even thought—are being thrown into question.

Let me illustrate with a little story...

I've heard rumblings lately about Oprah and her newfound religion based on a book by Eckhart Tolle called A New Earth. So I decided to learn a bit more about Tolle and his philosophies by reading an interview Oprah conducted with him in the May issue of O magazine.

At first glance, Tolle looks harmless (though maybe a little creepy)—pictured in O with a purple shirt and little gold vest that looks like something out of Aladdin. But after reading the article, I think he's actually quite dangerous. Why? Like many philosophers, spiritual teachers and cult leaders, a lot of what Tolle teaches sounds good. It sounds nice. Some of it even sounds Biblical. But it is a man-made, twisted version of the truth.

What does Tolle have the biggest problems with? Thought and judgment. For example, when talking about the original sin of Adam and Eve, he says:

...To me, that story is about the rise of the ability to think, to make judgments:
This is good, this is bad.
And I believe it took a long, long time of increased thinking
until people reached a point where they derived their entire sense of who they are
from the stream of thinking, the mind-made entity
composed of memories, past conditioning, and mental concepts.
This is the ego that people identify with.

I think Tolle’s view is correct in stating that our thoughts do not define us. But his error is in the assessment of Adam and Eve’s original sin—implying that before eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve did not have the ability to think or make judgments.

Biblically, this view is flawed for several reasons. First, Adam and Eve were created in the image of God—and God definitely has the ability to think and make judgments. Secondly, before the original sin, God entrusted Adam and Eve with tasks that required thinking and a high level of judgment—He gave them authority. They were not mindless robots who felt nothing but some sort of spiritual zen-like state, but were given rulership over the Earth (Gen. 1:26-30, 2:19-20).

Their sin didn’t represent an increase in their ability to think, but a disregard for what God thought best for them. It was a disobedience that in essence said, “I can do what I want—I know what’s best for me.”

It is the same sin, the same thought, that is at the core of what Tolle teaches. He says in the interview:

Look very deep inside yourself and see your sense of "I-ness”—your sense of self.

This "I" is bound up with the stillness.

You're never more essentially yourself than when you are still.

Tolle is teaching that the ultimate state of being is found in a stillness that comes from within ourselves. But ironically, that teaching requires the very level of man-made thought and judgment that Tolle seems to be against.

Contrary to the Gospel of Eckhart Tolle, the Bible teaches that we are never more ourselves than when we surrender ourselves to God and His Word. It is an irony difficult to express in words—to find freedom in being captivated by God.

It is a surrender that requires a leap of faith. But simultaneously, the Christian life requires a love for God’s thoughts, a respect for His judgment. It’s a commitment to desire to think like He thinks, to exercise good judgment—wisdom—to follow His truth.