Mtr Kelli Joyce

“Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgement on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.”

Dear friends,

When I was a child, I had a little plastic triptych on my dresser that held three cards. The cards were name cards, with the name, its meaning, and a short explanation of its etymology on it. I loved to read and reread it, as if it would give me clues to what kind of person I would or should be.

My middle name is Danielle, the feminine variant of Daniel, and its meaning is the same - God is my judge. This was not as simple or compelling to me at age seven as the other two meanings: Kelli means “warrior,” and Joyce means “lovely.” I did not quite know, though, what “God is my judge” ought to mean to me.

When I was in high school, today’s passage from Romans became extremely important to me, and helped shed some light on the subject. “Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall.” I was at tension with my church, and they didn’t approve of the things that I wanted or believed. My name gave me new comfort - God, and only God, was to be my judge.

Within our own personal lives, and the life of our parish, and the life of our broader church, we continue to find ourselves in tension with one another. What is right and appropriate behavior? How does God want us to live together? How should we speak?

Romans 14 gives us an answer: compassionately, without judgement or hostility towards those who differ from us. This doesn’t mean that our positions on various debates and controversies are irrelevant - “let all be fully convinced in their own minds,” Paul says. We are obligated to truly and passionately seek what we believe to be God’s will for us, because God is our ultimate judge. But although our positions and opinions are not by any means irrelevant, in the community of faith they must always be secondary to that greatest and most indisputable of commands from God: to love those around us as if they were us. And to save the judging for the one whose job it is.

In peace,
Mtr. Kelli