What's in a name?

Choosing a name for a blog that holds significance and isn't already taken can be tricky. The name I have chosen for this blog, however, worked the first time.

So why did I choose it? First, I realize that it could have an unintended meaning. We live in a day and age when the word "judgment" has been misappropriated and carries a primarily negative connotation. Failure on the part of the Church to consistently live out the gospel has left the world judging us, categorizing us as judgmental. Putting the word judgment together with the word sober is seemingly just asking for trouble. I am not here to bring sober judgment on others.

The term comes, however, from Paul's letter to the church at Rome, chapter 12, verse 3 where he says, "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned."

Sober judgment is the ability to reflect critically on yourself, to look at yourself and carefully assess what is true and real about yourself. It means being honest about who you are and who you are not, what you can do and what you cannot do, what you know and what you do not know, and which talents and skills you have and which you don't. In the passage it stands in contrast to Paul's admonition against thinking more highly of yourself than you ought.

The reality is, we are all weak people. We stumble, fall, fail, err, offend, etc. We have amazing capacities given to us by God but we don't fully use them, or don't use them well. When the Spirit of God comes to live within us, when we find ourselves abiding in Christ, we realize that we have indeed, as Paul also said, "this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us" (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Thinking of oneself with sober judgment is really to put the real self forward. Of course, in order to do so, we have to identify that real self. We live in an age when narcissism has become a cultural value, happiness is elevated to a prime goal in life, and the expectation that the world should look at ME is a major motivator. Sober judgment sets that aside, chooses not to think more highly of oneself, and instead determines what it truly is that I have to give to others.

What a unique thought... what do I have to give to others? What do I bring to the community? What benefit can my life have in the lives of others? How can I serve them? Hidden within that is the idea of my weakness as well. I need to know what I am not capable of, what about me might be potentially harmful to the community, and what about me should remain discreet.

I hope that in this blog I can explore various aspects of that. I believe sober judgment to be at the core of our interactions in community, to be what enables us to continue "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:21). Sober judgment allows us to build a solid philosophical perspective on the world because it allows us to answer some questions with the simple but profound phrase, "I don't know."

So, here I am, on this journey, and I hope you enjoy coming along.