Whoever does not love, abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life (1 John 3:14-15)

We in the Anglican Communion are perilously close to surrendering to a sin so insidious that it could destroy our church. Within our fellowship there are those who have decided to go their own way, rather than the way of Jesus Christ, and by doing so engage in the diabolical conduct that the sacred scriptures warn against. Convinced that they are correct, these brothers and sisters are willing to disrupt the historic fabric of the Communion to prove a point: that they alone possess the truth and the rest have been blinded by arrogance and presumption.

It's worthwhile to point out, but sad to observe, that this sin infects the highest levels of our polity. Archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons, religious and lay have gathered themselves into a coalition of activists dedicated to forcing their way upon the rest of the church under the guise of faithfulness to Christ. Instead of subterfuge and clandestine practice, these activists flaunt their convictions arrogantly hoping to induce like-minded people to join their ranks. Rather than consider their actions sinful, they proclaim that God is on "their side" and if you dare disagree with them, you are obviously a heretic and headed for hell.

Who are these most obvious of sinners? To paraphrase Pogo from the comic strip, we have met the enemy and they are us. That's right, you and me -- the conservatives and liberals in the church. We are the ones, from both the left and the right, who seem bent on destroying our fellowship by the arrogance of our assumptions. Instead of following the injunction to "let our speech be seasoned with grace, as it were, with salt" (Col. 4:6), our inner pain and unredeemed nature lashes out at those with whom we disagree. We take our brother and sister, whether traditionalist or progressive, and shred their reputations and vocation with innuendo and attack, all under the guise of protecting the "truth" of God's revelation. Of course, what we end up attacking is not a position that we disagree with, but instead the people who hold it.

We would do well to remember that the Christian scriptures are loaded with admonitions against assaulting others with judgment. Jesus told his followers specifically not to judge each other, going so far as to say that when we judge a brother or sister, we set the standard by which we become "liable to judgment" ourselves (Matt. 5:22). Perhaps the Lord knows what we've yet to learn: Our judgments are more often a reflection of our unresolved personal conflicts than the presenting theological issue at hand. This might be why he calls those who judge, "blind guides who lead others into a pit" (Luke 7:39). From the gospel accounts, it's clear that judgment is ultimately reserved to Jesus. Hence, when the servants in the parable are in a rush to remove the tares from the wheat, Jesus, speaking for the master, tells them to leave it all alone until the time of harvest; for only then can threshing occur without harming the crop.

Of course, Jesus isn't the only one who warns of the hazards of judgment. Paul echoes our Lord when he reminds us that judging others leads to our own condemnation (Rom. 2:1). The epistles are clear that when we judge others we take onto ourselves the role of lawgiver and judge. Now a fair reading of the scriptures reveals passages, such as in 1st Corinthians, that call for appropriate church discipline. Given the preponderance of scriptural admonitions against judgment, we should be wary about exercising this role. Yet it seems today that our tendency is to devour each other with abandon instead of going about the gospel business of reconciliation (Gal. 5:15).

Could it be that we are exhorted to refrain from judgment because we might not get it right? After all, the church has been on the wrong side of some issues longer than it has been on the side of angels. It took us 18 centuries to come to grips with slavery, we are just beginning to see the evil of sexism, and our track record on other issues of peace and justice leave much to be desired. Lest we forget the sad history of the church which destroyed those with whom she disagreed, records abound of inquisitions and public humiliations done in the name of the Christ of love. One can't imagine Jesus "signing off" on the execution of Cathars or Albigensians, yet those and many other horrible persecutions were accomplished in the name of protecting "orthodoxy."

Another reason that judgment imperils the soul is because all too often, we don't have the theological or psychological sophistication to know if we are judging rightly, or simply hating others because they are different from us. Making scapegoats of people we don't like, even using scriptural language to do so, is such a common psychological process that for the most part we are unaware that we are doing it. So whether we've chosen to make enemies of liberals, conservatives, gays and lesbians or members of the Armed Forces, the scapegoats always hold our inner pain, which is why we hate them so.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has spent time reading the scriptures. The perpetual conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day, while masked in the language of theology, was actually rooted in the hatred of Jesus and his message of God's universal love. In this regard, Richard Rohr, O.F.M., notes that Jesus became the ultimate scapegoat and paid for our darkness with his life. Scapegoating continued after the death and Resurrection of Christ as evidenced by the murder of St. Stephen, where his protagonists gnash their teeth in anger as they kill him for "orthodoxy's" sake. Down to this day, even the non-religious observer can see that our personal hatred and bias, couched in religious language, are the wellsprings from which our attacks occur. It is important to remember that no one is exempt from this perplexing problem. Members of the church's progressive wing can be as judgmental and poisonous as traditionalists. Yet, it's essential to see the truth: Members of Integrity are not Anglican anarchists and members of Forward in Faith are not the Taliban in Episcopalian disguise. Members of each group are disciples of Christ seeking to respond faithfully to the gospel.

If there is any truth to these theories, the danger of Christians sitting in judgment becomes evident. If our ability to make clear and "rational" judgments about issues that inflame us is questionable, then we might unwittingly become agents for evil instead of good. Satan, the accuser, seeks to destroy our relationship with each other, for not only does that wound the beloved of Christ, but it gives the world good reason to reject the gospel as well (John 17:20).

The following seems a harsh statement to make, but one that we risk in this hour of the church's life: Inasmuch as organizations and/or movements within the Anglican Communion seek to judge and condemn their brothers and sisters in the Lord, they are doing not Christ's work, but the bidding of the Accuser. Given the church's inability to judge rightly, it is indeed time to mend the net and keep all the fish in the catch. Then, on the day of judgment, the Lord of history can decide who rightly deserves his judgment (Matt. 25).

This spirit of reconciliation is already alive and well in the church. Through groups such as the New Commandment Task Force, Episcopalians of honestly held theological positions are finding new ways to be faithful stewards of the differences between us in the Communion. By such honest reflection and humility, we invite God to convert those places of our own hearts that we keep in darkness by hating those with whom we disagree. On that day of days, when Christ judges the world, we will discover that "they" and "us" have always reflected both the pain and brokenness of sin, as well as the love and brilliance of God.

The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno is the Bishop Coadjutor of Los Angeles. The Rev. David C. James is the vicar of St. Mark's Church, Tracy, Calif.