The View on accountability

This morning while I was sitting in a hospital waiting room, I watched a little bit of the television show The View. They were discussing an interview with Sarah Palin and her reflections on her youngest child, who was born with Down's Syndrome.
Much of the conversation centered around abortion, Palin's pro-life stance, and a woman's decision whether or not to carry a baby to full term, if she discovers during the pregnancy that her baby has Down's Syndrome.
I am not sharing this information to turn this particular post into a pro-life/pro-choice conversation. Rather, I am simply providing a framework for one particular comment which was made in the context of this dialogue.
In the middle of the conversation, Whoopi Goldberg made a statement that captures much of what is troubling in our culture today. I made sure to type the comment in my phone as soon as I heard it, so I wouldn't forget. This is what she said:

"Nobody outside of you can judge you for the decisions you make."

Read that a few times and think about the implications.
Now, let me take the liberty to change the pronouns and alter the perspective, but not the attitude, of the statement. Nobody outside of me can judge me for the decisions I make.
This, in a nutshell, is a philosophy that is undermining our society. And, unfortunately, I think this way of thinking has even pervaded many corners of the Church.
Think about all of the ways this attitude has permeated our society. The abortion debate, where this comment first emerged, is one example. But there are a variety of other areas. Sexuality. Substance abuse. Greed. Selfishness. So many of these issues are supported by the foundation of this attitude. "You can't judge me for (fill in the blank). It's my decision."
But before we start pointing fingers, we should look in the mirror. I have seen Christians defend their decisions by (mis)quoting Scripture. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "Do not judge others. Then you will not be judged." (Matthew 7:1)
I don't believe Jesus is advocating the "I'm OK, you're OK" philosophy that some Christians use this to advocate. Rather Jesus is calling us to a deep self-evaluation before we evaluate others. Jesus' call is actually the opposite of "Nobody outside of you can judge you for the decisions you make." Jesus demands a significant self-examination because we are all responsible for holding each other accountable. The church is not a place to ignore sin or take it light-heartedly. Rather, it is a place where we first hold ourselves accountable to a higher standard, and then we challenge others to do the same.
The problem Jesus was confronting is our tendency to measure our sin against someone else's "bigger" sin. He was not telling us to look the other way when we sin, but to be so intentional in our own lives about becoming more like Jesus that we can find ourselves in a better position to help those around us.
In this age of humanism, individuality, and relative moralism, so many people want to allow our society to sink to the lowest common denominator instead of striving for the highest possible calling. For those of us who belong to the Kingdom of God, we can settle for no less than living our lives so that our community is a place where everyone is able to judge the decisions we make in the context of the Way that is following Jesus Christ.

shine!
Jason