Indiana Judge Dean Young

"He's The Judge"

The icon for the American justice system, Lady Justice, is well known: She holds
a sword in one hand and a set of scales in the other.  Perhaps her most striking
feature is the fact that she is blindfolded.  The point: Justice applies to all,
rich and poor alike.  The law does not act based on your appearance.

A judge in Indiana, however, recently acted based on appearance - the attire of
an attorney who frequently visits his court.  Judge Dean Young ordered on August
25 that attorney Todd Glickfield wear socks when he comes to court.  Glickfield
apparently wears other commonly-seen items of clothing - suit and tie, etc.  But
he has explained to the judge, "I hate socks."

I personally know people who prefer not to wear socks, and I find them to be
otherwise acceptable.  Some come to worship and Bible study where I preach
without socks.  We've never considered making a rule on this matter, and I doubt
we ever will.

But I suspect (though I don't know him) that Glickfield will be wearing socks
the next time he appears in Dean's court.  After all, he's the judge, and he
gets to make certain rules about what is acceptable in his venue.

There is another Judge who has made rules that many find objectionable.  We're
speaking, of course, about God.  His standards have been published in book form,
and are available to all who wish to know what He expects.  Some don't like some
of His rules; some don't accept that He has the right to make rules, or that He
even exists.

None of that changes anything.  As Paul noted in Romans 10:20,21: "But indeed, O
man, who are you to reply against God?  Will the thing formed say to him who
formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?'  Does not the potter have power
over the clay ...?"

By virtue of the fact that He is Creator, God has the right to tell His creation
what He expects.  Added to that is the fact that He is revealed in Scripture as
the Judge of all mankind.  One day we will be held accountable for how we
responded to His directives.

There's one other fact we must understand: God is not an arbitrary, unreasonable
judge.  Abraham stated it best in Genesis 18:25: "... Shall not the Judge of all
the earth do right?"  God is right - even when we think He is wrong.  Job, after
all his trials, finally came to understand this truth: "... Therefore I have
uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not
know" (Job 42:3).

What God orders and what He does is always right.  We may not understand - or
like - His reasoning, but God knows what He is doing.  He is the righteous Judge
of all.

Timothy D. Hall