PASTORAL LETTER
Luke 6:37 - “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings in the great love and peace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!
The topic of judgement is so fundamental to us all; and if you are like me you have issues with judging folks. With permission I have copied for you a letter which helped me take a better look at me judging others. It was utilized by my Pastor to help us. I pray it helps you.
"My Day of Judgment "
By Mike Yaconelli, The Front Door, 1991; with permission
I have a difficult time with judgmental people. They are so... judgmental. They have a gift for making you feel like something is wrong with you. There is an arrogance about them, an I-can't-believe-you-call-yourself-a- Christian attitude that seeks you out in a crowded room and lets you know you are not OK. These people are worse than politically correct—they have God on their side. . . They are always right. Never wrong. They have no problems. They know what's wrong with this world, with America, with George Bush, with Saddam Hussein, and with me. And they are not the least bit timid in letting the world know just how those wrongs should be righted. Memories? Boy, do they have them. Make a mistake or, worse yet, sin so that they find out about it, and you are doomed. They will not let you or anyone else forget. Ever! They want to keep you in your place, make sure you don't get away with anything. I don't like people like that. Judgmental people have done so much damage in the name of God. They have hurt so many people, caused so much pain.
Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. A few weeks ago, my wife and I were having some remodeling done to our house. The contractor called to say that one of the sub-contractors was coming over to do some work. He mentioned the man 's name and I immediately balked. I told the contractor that we would rather not have this person come to our house because we knew some things about him that made it difficult for us to be around him. He had a drinking problem, and his son had been to see my wife and I two years previously and had some serious emotional scars that had been inflicted by this man. We had talked many hours with the son and the mother and tried to help them through a difficult time. Even though the man had left town for two years and had supposedly been to rehab, 
we were not happy to have an alcohoic; wife-abuser in our home. However, when the contractor pointed out that our remodeling job would be delayed, we decided to let the subcontractor do the work. The job would only take three days and his bid of $350 was much lower than anyone else's. On the day he finished the job, I mentioned to him that if he stopped by my office; I would give him a check for his portion of the work. He looked at me and said, "Oh, I was just going to talk to you about that. We need to talk about my bill." I immediately felt my face turn red, and I thought, "That guy! He hasn't changed one bit. I knew I should never have given in, and now he is going to try and get more money out of me." I was furious. "People never really change," I thought to myself.
He showed up at my office about 5:00. I was ready for him. He sat down and we exchanged small talk for a few minutes. He took out his book and began to write down the details of his bill. In the middle of writing on the invoice he looked up to me and stopped writing. Awkwardly, he began to speak, "Mike, a couple of years ago I was really a mess. My son and my wife experienced a lot of pain because of me and my drinking. I know that during that time both my wife and son came to you for counseling. You helped them through a really tough time in our lives. I have my son and my wife back again, thanks to you. I couldn't thank you then, but I'm thanking you now." He placed the invoice on my desk with the words written "paid in full," slowly stood, and shook my hand. Our eyes met. His were filled with tears of gratitude, mine were filled with tears of embarrassment, humiliation, and remorse. I sat at my desk for a long time. The silence was pointing its finger in my direction.
I had just come face to face with the most judgmental person I have ever known... myself.
No wonder I have such a difficult time with judgmental people. I am one of them. No wonder I criticize judgmental people so loudly. If I scream loud enough maybe no one will hear the judgment dripping from my own voice. I had judged this man. 
I had written him off.
I had not forgiven him. I had not forgotten his past, and I made sure everyone else was aware of it. I had decided I was better than he was. Judge not, that ye not be judged? Not only was I judged, I was judged by the person I was judging. I owe that man an apology. I owe Jesus an apology. For how many years have I raged about the arrogance and judgmentalism of others? Maybe I need to get out of the judging business and into the loving business. This man has no idea what he did for me. Maybe someday I'll get up enough courage to tell him. Mike Yaconelli
Let’s pray, dear Lord, give us Your love in our hearts, and the wisdom not to judge others but love them. As you loved us while we were yet sinners; help us to love others right where they are. Help us to focus on our own faults so You can change us more into Your image. We will give you all the glory and honor because this not something we can do on our own. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen and Amen.
I hope this Pastoral letter has encouraged you in some small way. You all are in my prayers and I love you in Christ greatly.
John D. Gough
Br. John D. Gough, DBS
HHWBC
