Judgment-Free Zone

Dana Carvey played the Church Lady
on NBC's Saturday Night Live in the late 1980's.

"Well, isn't that special?"

This was the catch-phrase of the Church Lady played by Dana Carvey during Saturday Night Live in the late 1980's. Church Lady would say this phrase in a sarcastic, mocking voice that indicated that the behavior in question was not special at all.

The recurring character was a big hit for the show - possibly because she represented an archetype that many Americans had experienced at some point in their lives.

Dana Carvey supposedly based her on older women that he had grown up with in church.

One of my favorite episodes was one of the first where the Church Lady was interviewing Jenny Baker played by Victoria Jackson.  Jenny was a girl from the Church Lady's congregation and had attended worship consecutively for 200 times before she missed. Rather than applauding the girl's attendance, the Church Lady's response was, "Well, I guess some people only come to church when it's convenient!"

The girl replied that the reason she missed was that her grandmother had slipped and fallen in the tub.

Instead of apologizing, the Church Lady remarked that this accident left Jenny and her boyfriend unchaperoned at the house.

Do you ever feel like you can't win with some people?

This Sunday, we will be looking at Matthew 7:1-12 from the Sermon on the Mount which contains the oft-quoted, "Judge not, lest ye be judged!"  from verse 1.

We've all experienced being judged and we've all made snap judgments against other people.  Our hope is that this characteristic doesn't define us or our church.  Yet at the same time, good judgment is needed to preserve our safety and the well-being of those we love.  Where do we draw the line and what is appropriate when it comes to our judgment of someone else?

Join us for a subject that we all need to revisit from time to time!

In Christ,

Sam
 

Photo is the property of NBC and used by fair use under United States copyright laws.