Summary
Between Heaven and Earth is a podcast hosted by Justin and Amy Howard, leaders of Encounter Culture Mission Collaborative in New England. The show seeks to explore what it means to follow Jesus by uniting heaven and earth within families and communities. This episode focuses on the theme of judgment, addressing its cultural prevalence and biblical understanding. The hosts examine how judgment manifests in believers and communities, differentiating between toxic judgment, which condemns and limits, and healthy judgment, which is restorative and compassionate. They highlight the cultural spirit of the age (“zeitgeist”) that fosters fear and judgment, often opposing the gospel’s message of grace and healing. The podcast emphasizes the need to respond to judgment through the power of the Holy Spirit, moving beyond fear and anger towards freedom and hope. The conversation also addresses the complexity of judgment in Christian communities, the importance of self-awareness and healing, and how to practice non-toxic judgment rooted in love, restoration, and truth. The hosts encourage listeners to confront their own pain caused by judgment, seek healing, and foster communities that extend grace without compromising truth. They conclude by inviting listeners to continue the conversation on judgment—especially in polarized cultural and political contexts—and to engage with Encounter Culture’s resources for support and growth in discipleship.
Highlights
🌍 The podcast explores how to bring heaven and earth together in everyday life through Jesus’s mission of restoration.⚖️ Judgment is dissected into toxic judgment that condemns and healthy judgment that restores and encourages growth.🕊️ The “spirit of the age” often fosters fear and judgment, conflicting with the gospel’s message of freedom and grace.❤️ True Christian judgment calls people higher in their identity and is rooted in compassion and healing, not condemnation.🔄 Self-judgment impacts how we judge others; healing personal pain enables greater compassion and mercy.🏘️ Healthy community judgment involves safe, honest conversations that acknowledge sin and brokenness while maintaining hope.🙏 Listeners are encouraged to seek healing from past wounds caused by judgment and to embrace Christ’s restorative love.Key Insights
🌬️ The Spirit of the Age as a Cultural Stronghold: The hosts describe the “zeitgeist” or spirit of the age as a pervasive cultural mindset that influences global and regional values and behaviors. This spirit often manifests as Babylonian opposition to the kingdom of God, embedding fear and judgment into social, familial, and church environments. Recognizing this helps believers understand why judgment feels natural yet unhelpful and challenges them to consciously oppose it through the Spirit’s power.
⚖️ Differentiating Toxic and Healthy Judgment: The episode clarifies that judgment is not simply prohibited by scripture; rather, Jesus and Paul call believers to exercise righteous judgment. Healthy judgment involves discernment that seeks restoration and loving correction, while toxic judgment is characterized by final condemnation, assigning identity labels, and writing off others based on limited perspectives. This distinction is vital for navigating relationships and church discipline.
💔 Judgment’s Impact on Identity and Relationships: Toxic judgment damages relationships by reducing people to their worst choices or perceived faults, robbing them of dignity and the possibility of change. It creates barriers to the movement of the Holy Spirit and shuts down healing. By contrast, judgment rooted in grace sees people as made in God’s image and holds space for their potential to grow beyond current failings.
🔄 Self-Judgment and Its Cyclical Effect: The hosts emphasize that the way believers judge themselves directly influences how they judge others. Those who live under harsh self-condemnation or self-righteousness tend to project these attitudes outward, perpetuating a cycle of judgment and fear. Healing and forgiveness in one’s own life enable a more compassionate and hopeful approach toward others, breaking this destructive cycle.
🛡️ The Danger of Both Licentious Mercy and Legalistic Condemnation: The podcast warns against two extremes: unsanctified mercy (sloppy agape) that ignores sin and allows destructive behavior to continue unchecked, and legalistic condemnation that harshly judges without grace. Both approaches are harmful as they usurp God’s judgment role and cripple healthy community life, leading to distrust, hypocrisy, and spiritual death.
🏘️ Creating Safe Communities for Honest Conversations: A healthy Christian community allows space for sin to be acknowledged without shunning or writing off people. It cultivates safety where individuals can be known, share struggles, and receive loving correction aimed at healing. This environment requires leaders and members who have themselves been on healing journeys and can extend compassionate judgment grounded in hope.
🙏 Invitation to Healing and New Stories: The episode closes with an invitation to listeners to confront the pain caused by judgment—whether from others or themselves—and to bring it honestly before Jesus. Healing prayer, spiritual direction, and counseling are recommended pathways to freedom. Embracing Christ’s love enables believers to release bitterness, forgive others, and rewrite their personal and communal narratives with hope and restoration, embodying the kingdom of God in tangible ways.
This rich exploration of judgment within the context of Christian life and culture offers deep practical and theological insights for believers seeking to live out grace and truth amid a judgmental world.
