How to lead in a culture lacking judgement

Have you noticed that EVERYTHING seems to end up in front of a judge these days? Whether or not the Executive or Legislature on the national or state level can or cannot do what they were elected by the people to do is increasingly a question before the judiciary to decide. Disputes related to education, healthcare, abortion access, border security, and asylum are all questions before the judiciary right now. Why would we need judges to decide such things? Because we live in a culture lacking judgement.

Case in point: a federal judge ruled Wednesday in BLinC v. University of Iowa that a Christian group at the University of Iowa cannot be stripped of its affiliation even if it requires members adhere to a statement of faith which is expressly Christian.

Why did we need a judge to tell us that? Well, because in 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that colleges and universities with anti-discrimination policies could in fact enforce those policies in this area. The UofI has such policies and enforced them against the Business Leaders in Christ student organization which in 2016 failed to elevate into a leadership a person who presented himself as openly desiring "to pursue a homosexual lifestyle/relationship." He filed a suit with the university in 2017 seeking to have BLinC's status revoked under the university anti-discrimination policy.

It is fair to say the whole thing was a set up and it is fair to say that good judgement failed to prevail at every level.

Consider the wisdom of a policy that will require constant amendment as those who desire to see their particularity elevated to that of a protected status: the UofI policy currently lists: "race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, disability, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military, sexual orientation, gender identity, associational preferences, or any other classification that deprives the person of consideration as an individual.” So, a Democrat could demand to lead the College Republicans, a man could demand to lead in the campus chapter of the National Organization for Women, you get the point. Those lacking judgement are rewarded and everyone else must accommodate the delusion.

Here's the challenge the University faces: they have not applied their policy consistently. So, while their policy may be rightly applied to the BLinC group, it then must also be applied to several other campus groups with membership limits that run afoul of the anti-discrimination policy. According to testimony by University administrators,

• The Chinese Students and Scholars Association limits membership to Chinese students
• The Iowa Hawkapellas, an a capella group, only accepts women
• Iowa’s chapter of the National Lawyers Guild excludes students with certain political viewpoints

“The court suspects that some observers will portray this case as a fundamental conflict between nondiscrimination laws and religious liberty,” Rose wrote. “There is no fault to be found with the policy itself. But the Constitution does not tolerate the way defendants chose to enforce the human rights policy. Particularly when free speech is involved, the uneven application of any policy risks the most exacting standard of judicial scrutiny, which Defendants have failed to withstand.”

Rose granted Business Leaders in Christ a permanent injunction that forbids the university from rejecting the group based on the human rights policy.

Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented the student group in the case, called Rose’s decision “a win for basic fairness.”

“It is also an eloquent plea for civility in how governments treat Americans in all their diversity,” Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said in a statement.

How then do we lead in a culture lacking judgment? By being people who do not roll our eyes but roll up our sleeves and apply ourselves to the work at hand.

1. We show ourselves to be men and women of fairness, showing no partiality. Rightly dividing the truth and applying it without bias in all circumstances.
2. We show ourselves to be men and women of consistency, applying the mind of Christ in every circumstance.
3. We show ourselves to be men and women of love, moving into the chaos when others are running away from people in pain.
4. We show ourselves to be men and women who are steadfast, never leaving nor forsaking others when their mess is not quickly remedied.

Cultural redemption takes time. Which means we must be willing to lead at the pace of grace, with humility and without compromise.

If we imagine that people will turn quickly from patterns of thinking and destructive practices to wisdom, good judgement and healthy practices, we are going to be disappointed. If we model wisdom and extend grace and demonstrate righteous thinking and relational integrity, others will want to be with us and follow our lead.

Consider that judges became a necessary part of Israel's life when God's people forgot God's good counsel and literally each did what they saw as right in their own eyes. That is the definition of a lace of judgement. It is the myth of autonomy and it is the idol of the days in which we live. To lead in a culture which has lost its judgement requires that we know God, follow His lead, seek His counsel, and prove ourselves to be people wise beyond the prevailing ideas of our time.