No Judgement...No Criticism

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No judgment. 

No critics.

That is the mission statement at the gym I recently joined (no, I didn’t join the gym as a resolution to get fit, I joined because I’m living in St. Louis, MO for a bit and wanted to ensure that I was tending to my self). The mission is clear and well understood. It is proclaimed across every piece of equipment and proudly displayed on the walls. 

I have been thinking about the mission and the freedom that it not just merely proclaims but freely gives the moment you walk through the doors. I have not set foot in a gym in quite some time, my exercise routine has taken place outdoors for the past 5.5 years and walking into the gym was more than a bit intimidating. Yet every single time I feel as though I should be pushing the level on my stationary bike or the treadmill to a higher level I am reminded that there is no judgment. Literally, no one is judging me, no one is criticizing what my workout routine involves or doesn’t involve. 

There is freedom in no judgment...no criticism.

There is power in just starting where I am and knowing that I am on the journey to a more balanced me.

It is my journey.

I wonder what the church would be like if no judgment, no criticism were our primary mission. I wonder if we would love ourselves with a bit more gusto and embrace our flaws with a spirit of uniqueness. I wonder if we would find loving our neighbor actually brings us an unbound joy with a deep sense of belonging. I wonder if we as people of Jesus took on living a mission of no judgment if our circle would widen to include even our enemies. I wondered if we set down the judgments and criticism of people who were beginning their journey to Christ, new to our community and merely looking for a new community of believers wouldn’t have to wonder about whether or not they’ll be accepted merely based on the clothes they are wearing.   I have been wondering if we lived a mission of no criticism if we would find that our pastors were filled with a deeper passion for their people and unleashed from the fear of losing their jobs, I wonder if laypersons would be filled with a spirit of serving in areas that they would have never considered because they would find  a freedom that success happens even in the midst of failure. I wonder if we lived without judgment and criticism if we would find the Kingdom of God surrounding us and breathing new life into every single person. 


If our mission were no judgement, no criticism we would all free to be ourselves; to love ourselves deeply and unashamedly. We would find our enemies were our friends.  We would expand the very Kingdom of God we proclaim so loudly yet live so silently. 

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