By Fr. Inok
Vsevolod (Filipiev).
The venerable
Maximilian the Confessor says: "Should we not be horrified and
trembling... for God the Father, not judging anyone, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son Himself (Jn 5:22), the Son: Judge not, lest ye be judged.
(Mt 7:1); Do not judge and you will not be judged (Lk 6:37), and likewise an
Apostle: Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord
comes. (1 Cor 4:5) and also: ...for at whatever point you judge the other, you
are condemning yourself... (Rom 2:1), when I say it, it is so: people, crying
about their sins, took judgment from the Son's hands and began to judge and
condemn one another, as if they were sinless! Heaven is horrified by this, and
the earth trembles." {Christian life on The Philokalia, Harbin, 1930).
Centuries
pass, but still people stand before the very same unassailable wall of
condemnation and cannot overcome it. Adam in Paradise, justifying himself
before God, condemned Eve; Cain, having condemned his brother Abel in his soul,
killed him; the crime of condemnation brought the Jews to the killing of the
Messiah; and for us, the new Canaanites and Pharisees, condemnation pushes us
to the daily spiritual murder of our brothers.
Condemning
tortures even those very ones who condemn, denies them peace, forces them to
constantly monitor the actions of those around them and poisons their souls
with bitterly venomous suspicion.
One modern
elder said: "Getting up onto the path of salvation is easy: one must just
firmly resolve to never judge anyone from this moment forth." The mind can
understand these words, but how to put them into effect? For this it is
absolutely necessary to understand where the reason for the condemnation lies.
And the reason is in our false self-appraisal: those who judge others consider
themselves to be in the right, place themselves about their brother, and see
themselves as being rid of those sins which they accuse those around them of.
He who has not acknowledged his own personal spiritual corruption will never
cease condemning his neighbors.
However, we
are all infected with sin, aren't we? There is no person who could live and not
sin—we all languish in the prison of our own flaws, all pray for relief in the
life of the next era, and all need Godly aid. Again, many know this in theory,
but when it comes down to it, withholding judgment becomes painfully difficult;
we are driven to condemn. Why? Because condemnation has become our passion, and
like any passion, it brings us a great reward, a fascinating, thinly-veiled
pleasure. How "nice" it is to condemn someone in a friendly
conversation, laugh at
someone's
shortcomings, harbor malicious sentiments and engage in similar innuendo... But
surely we don't disbelieve the Bible warning us that someday we will have to
answer for every single word, and thus even for this false joy, intent to
condemn.
The battle
with the passion of condemnation, as with any other passion, cannot be
theoretical; it must be every minute of every day, for al our lives; it must be
based on tight self-discipline and on being attentive of our words and
thoughts. In other words, without smart behavior, without spiritual feats, one
cannot succeed here. What, in this case, must the said behavior and feats consist
of? They must consist of attentive servitude in all facets of life. We will
also definitely notice that during the course of the day the paths to condemnation,
veritably invisible underwater rocks, surround us on all sides and threaten to
shipwreck our soul. With God's help, we can gradually learn to avoid encounters
with these submarine rocks; in those places where we used to be overcome with
irritation and annoyance, we will be calm; where we used to be angry, we will
be silent, where we tried to justify ourselves, we will be calm.
Where we
judged our neighbors—we will pray for them and for ourselves, so that we do not
fall into similar sins. Very quickly we will notice that our souls are not
weighed down with condemnation, that they experience genuine spiritual
happiness and lightness of being; and we are wiser—the chains and fetters of
other's sins no longer anger us.
And as
judging others brings with it other forms of corruption: anger, discord, and
murder, so will victory over condemnation reveal the true path to those who
would do good: clean prayer, peace, harmony, full awareness of one's sins. It
is for this very reason that all manner of demons try to catch the soul in a
net of condemnation and barriers to the cleansing of this passion. In turn, and
for the same reason, we do not have the right to put down the fight with
condemnation, but must immediately begin carefully watching after ourselves.
"Watching
after ourselves" is the golden rule of Christian morality, but so often
scorned by Christians. How much effort we exert on external affairs, and how
little strength we leave for our own selves. But without these internal
affairs, nothing on the outside could possibly lead to salvation...
Let's say
that Russian Orthodox patriots fight for the rebirth of Orthodox tsarist
Russia, and this is good; but at the same time we cannot forget that the
rebirth of Russia and the tsar will not bring the light of Christ into our
souls if we are weighed down by corruption. Can one imagine a sadder ending: in
Russia there would rule an Orthodox tsar, but in our hearts become a hellish
dusk! But this is exactly what will happen to those Christians, even if they
are patriots, who do not watch after themselves, do nc lead invisible battles
with their own passions, and do nc care for their souls.
The Most Holy
Seraphim of Sarov said that the goal c Christian life is reaching for the Holy
Spirit. And the Hoi Spirit is in fact called the Heavenly King. Both are
confirms tions in our souls of the power of this King and it should b our top
priority. For this it is necessary to step onto the pat of smart action, the
path of spiritual conflict with passion: and to conquer them one by one, with
God's help. And the battle can begin
with the very passion of condemnation and judging.
In
conclusion, I will once more repeat the wise words c the elder: "Getting
up onto the path of salvation is easy one must just firmly resolve to never
judge anyone from this moment forth."
Orthodox Heritage Vol. 10, Issue 05-04
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