Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices - Blogs

September 30, 2013

Judging or Learning?

Sometimes judging is easy. You read a blog and decide the theology is OK but it’s poorly written. Someone mentions and idea he has for a new program and you immediately know that it’s not a good idea. A new reimbursement policy is announced at work and your first response is that it’s pointless and obnoxious.

Learning is harder. It requires asking a few more questions in order to understand where the new policy or the bad theology is coming from.

This past week I went to a workplace training led by Anthony Panos of Organizational Performance Group. This distinction between judging and learning was one of the helpful distinctions he made during the training.

All of the ideas and articles and policies and people we encounter have a history. While we, as church leaders or employees in the workplace or just thoughtful human beings, will have to make judgments all the time, starting from a stance of learning will help us better understand those things we encounter.

Perhaps that parishioner wants to do a book study of a book you disagree with because it has really touched their lives and been helpful to them in practical ways. Maybe the person spouting bad theology is actually in the process of growing and seeing God anew, and still figuring things out. Maybe the onerous new policy is necessary because of a history of unhealthy practices or wastefulness in the office.

When we understand first, we will make better judgments, and it will also improve how we feel about the things going on around us. We’ll have better relationships with those we encounter because we know them first, before we are tempted to judge them.