♪ ♬ "you are important to me...i need you to [produce]" ♫ ♩

ok, so i'm being honest here. i have passed judgment on more than one occasion. this pot has called the kettle black far more often than i care to admit. i feel like passing judgment on a situation isn't neeeeeeaarly as bad as passing judgment on a person...but i don't think it's any more justifiable either, especially since i might not have a clue about the circumstances surrounding a situation...the whys, the wherefores, and the like...

now, i'm not talking constructive criticism here, where we have a tidbit of advice that can potentially turn a situation around. i'm talking about being just plain critical, where nothing positive is accomplished, feelings get hurt, relationships damaged, institutions devalued...i'm talking about the kind of behaviour that points a finger but offers no hand of assistance...it's always seeing what's wrong but never helping to make right; it's always trumpeting what needs done but never doing; it's seeing the bad fruit on someone else's tree, but overlooking the same rotting decay on my own...

i was reminded of this the other day while reading the words of Jesus in matthew 7:15-20. he teaches that just as a tree is known by its fruit, a person can be identified by their actions. a good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree bad fruit, and every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is no longer allowed to produce. in fact, it's cut down and thrown into the fire. so, we're not only recognized by our fruit, the fruit we bear is brought to bear on the reward we reap.

and what does this have to do with judging, you might ask? well, the bible says "you can identify people by their fruit" (matthew 7:16). this is natural...as natural, so it seems, as looking at a tree and seeing that it's bearing apples and not oranges. now this doesn't make me a judge, but a fruit inspector. i can, according to the bible, know a tree by its fruit, and a person by their actions...but it doesn't give me the right to be judgmental or critical...i can know...but i can't judge...

in an ongoing effort to let the bible read me, i realized that i'm under the same kind of inspection by others, and more importantly by God. as for being under inspection by others, i don't want to be judged or criticized, but i do want to be held accountable. i don't want to fly under the radar. i want the people in my life to correct me when i'm wrong, give me a hand getting back on track, and be there along the way to help me with the pruning and harvesting--not just take me to task, but show me where i've gone astray and what i can do to make it better. i want people to pour into my life so that what i produce can be extraordinary, and not just ordinary. when people look at my life, i want them to see good fruit...and i'm not so naive as to think that i can accomplish this on my own. i need you. yeah...you. 

as for being under inspection by God, i want to have a teachable spirit. ultimately, it's his correction and approval i need. i'm a people-pleaser by nature...to a fault, i think...but i also know that it's incumbent upon me to "as much as lieth in [me], live peaceably with all men" (romans 12:18). it behooves me to go out of my way to do this, and in so doing, i think i give God good ground with which to work...and like david in the old testament, i want God to search me, try me, know me. i want him to root out the wicked ways in me so that bad fruit can't exist. when he judges me according to my works (revelation 20:12-13), i want there to be good fruit.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that i want constructive criticism and i want to get beyond being hypocritical...and hyper-critical for that matter. this pot doesn't want to call the kettle black anymore. i want to kick that can to the curb once and for all. i don't want to pass judgment every time i turn around since i never have all the facts anyway. i want to be concerned with producing good fruit and i want you to be able to identify me by my fruit, my works, my actions, my words...i want to be who Jesus talks about when he says, "a good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart" (matthew 12:35 msg)...and i want you to cultivate me with your wisdom and experience...yeah...you.

oh yeah...a final explanation...we sing a hezekiah walker song sometimes at my church which seemed to fit this post, and is where i got my title:
"i need you...you are important to me, i need you to survive...i pray for you, you pray for me. i love you, i need you to survive. i won't harm you with words from my mouth. i love you, i need you to survive."