Judge Not . . .

. . . lest you be judged. These are the words of Jesus, good advice for a world too full of judgment.

And I've spent four days this past week grading exams.

I had to judge the sufficiency of essays written by people planning on entering the ministry in our denomination. Sometimes they take these exams in their second year of seminary. Sometimes they're long out of seminary, after a long first career, and going into the ministry with tons of experience and wisdom. Sometimes they're smart-aleck wet-behind-the-ears freshman-in-life who don't know a baptismal font from a hole in the ground.

And I don't know which one's which.

I just take the exam, record the number (to make sure I don't grade the same one twice), and read their responses to the questions, hoping and praying all the time that they will: 1) answer the question (you'd be surprised how many don't); 2) have good writing skills and good logical flow (after more than a year in a Master's level program); and 3) be able to apply Reformed theology to practical areas of ministry (the really tough one).

The grade I give could be the thing that allows this candidate finally to be declared ready to enter the ministry. Or it could be the thing that makes their preparation committee say, "Well, perhaps the ministry is not for you," after the candidate has invested years and thousands of dollars into education and preparation. The task is, in a word, humbling.

We have to judge and be judged. How else will we assure that those who preach on Sunday mornings and lead the flock every day of the week have actually thought about how scripture connects with everyday life? How else will we guarantee that theology is not done in a vacuum, but with the edification of Christ's people in mind? Yet I am aware that how I think, what I think, and how I interpret the words of these students cannot be the absolute judge of their careers as ministers.

So I am thankful that I am not alone. In order to take these exams, a group of people who knows each student will have given them permission to do so, and will have ushered them along this process to ordination. And I know that at least one other person grades every exam that I grade. If we disagree--I pass, another fails it, or vice versa--then a third will be brought in to settle the matter. It is subjective, as all evaluations are, but not arbitrary.

As I look critically at these answers and weigh them carefully, I am reminded of grace. As one of my colleagues put it: "We evaluate whether a person is ready to begin the ministry, not be a master of it." Point taken. I, too, am a beginner and not yet a master. So with fear and trembling I embraced my task of judging the written words of others who might someday be my colleagues. I pray that the Lord worked through my grading for the encouragement, the protection, and the edification of the whole Church.

Shalom,
emrys