A Lesson from American Christianity’s Forrest Gump
James Bryan Smith describes himself as the Forrest Gump of American Christianity.
That’s an odd statement and one that’s definitely worth some time spent unpacking.
If you’ve seen the movie “Forrest Gump,” you know that Forrest has a knack for stumbling into some of the most monumental moments throughout history. He travels to the White House to meet the president on multiple occasions, receives a Congressional Medal of Honor, and attracts a national following on a literal cross-country run.
James Bryan Smith’s experience as a student of theology and Christian discipleship also features some notable highs. Smith studied under Richard Foster in college and taught alongside Dallas Willard for many years. He also built a close relationship with Henri Nouwen, a writer and theologian who authored 39 books during his life.
Smith himself has written nine books, including “Good and Beautiful Life: Putting on the Character of Christ.” In this book, Smith walks through each passage of the Sermon on the Mount in a similar manner as we’ve been doing for the past several weeks. If you’re interested in digging deeper into the sacred teachings we’ve been unpacking on this blog in recent weeks, I highly recommend this book.
In “The Good and Beautiful Life,” Smith identifies false narratives that Christians often believe in regard to ourselves, our world, and our relationship with God. His goal is to attack these narratives and replace them with the truth. I think his approach is especially valuable this week as we arrive at one of the most often quoted (and most misunderstood) passages in the entire Bible:
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1-2, NLT)
At first glance, this passage seems contradictory. First, we’re told we shouldn’t judge. Then, we’re warned about what happens if we do judge. We wonder, is Verse Two some kind of threat?
As Smith examines this teaching in “The Good and Beautiful Life,” he identifies two commonly-held false narratives related to judging others:
- Judging fixes people
- Judging makes us feel better about ourselves
The first false narrative is born from good intentions. However, the approach is wrong. If you’ve been judged before, you know that judgment doesn’t present a solution – it only makes you feel bad about yourself. The second false narrative has less to do with the other person and more to do with your sense of self-worth. This perspective is dangerous and unhealthy.
The beauty of Jesus’ teaching on judgment is that it presents a better way to understand how we can help our brothers and sisters deal with the sin in their lives. If you’re familiar with this passage, you remember that Jesus uses the illustration of trying to remove a speck from our brother’s eye without first taking the plank out of our own eye. Smith would argue that this plank represents judgment and writes that we’ll be able to effectively help our brothers and sisters address the specks in their eyes after we choose a better approach than judging.
There are two important lessons to learn here. First of all, we shouldn’t be judging others based on standards we aren’t first willing to uphold ourselves. This is what Jesus means when he teaches that we’ll be judged by the same standards we hold others to.
Equally importantly, if we truly want to help others overcome their sins, we must be willing to do so within the context of a loving relationship and a caring approach. Passing along a quick judgment might make us feel more self-righteous, but if we truly care about helping somebody see a better way to live, we must be willing to walk alongside them and model a better way in our own lives.