Imagine a teenage boy sitting with his family among the crowd at the Sermon on the Mount about 2,000 years ago (Matthew 5-7). As the radical teacher named Jesus stood to speak on that mountainside, all ears, including those of the boy, were aimed intently toward him.

Jesus opened with repetitive lines of “blessed …,” and the boy tried his best to memorize them. The teacher gave controversial commands about divorce and loving your enemy, which particularly riled up those carrying hate for the abusive Romans in the area. Jesus pulled in the boy’s attention with a prayer for all to follow. Then he spoke of doing good deeds without selfish ambition, valuing Godly things over worldly things and casting cares on the Lord.

And just as Jesus delivered what seemed to be the lesson’s climax – “Judge not, that you be not judged …” – the anxious boy had to step away to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later he met up with his family on their walk home. After a spirited talk about the lesson, the boy saw a Roman soldier in the distance and shouted a slur – hateful speech that Jesus had condemned about an hour earlier. His parents, who believed the teacher to be the son of God, quickly chastised their son, repeating “love your enemies, bless those who curse you.” The boy fired back, “Don’t judge me! That’s what Jesus said.”

The parents, suddenly remembering their son had stepped away amid one of Jesus’ critical points, sat him down and finished the lesson. They told him about the importance of not looking for others’ faults while overlooking our own. But they also taught him why it was imperative to his soul that he make judgments about spiritual “swine” – those people, places and behaviors that produce evil – based on the Lord’s teachings, and how he must use those same words from God to judge “good fruit” from “bad fruit.”

The boy came away knowing he not only was commanded to make reasonable spiritual judgments – that is, with loving intentions toward others and protective measures for himself – but that he needed to do so in order to stay on what his parents called “the narrow way.”

Often in our Bible study, we take mental “bathroom breaks” – clinging to one statement from God’s word, but not looking at the complete thought, context and the accompanying scriptures on the same topic. For example, the cultural idea of “don’t judge me” is contrary to the commanded use of scripture to identify evil behavior and rebuke those who breed it (II Timothy 3:16, James 5:19-20, II Timothy 4:2-3, Galatians 6:1, Proverbs 9:7-10, Hebrews 12:11, etc.).

Make sure in our Bible study, we are willing to correct our ways when we have believed in error, always seek God’s full truth, and avoid shortcuts in seeking scriptural wisdom. Bathroom breaks can be dangerous when listening to the Lord.

– Adam Sparks